Below please find the first part of NeurSearch's interim report for Q1 2009.
The full text is available in the enclosed pdf file.
------------------
The Board of Directors of NeuroSearch A/S today considered and adopted the
company's interim report for the period 1 January to 31 March 2009.
The financial result for the period was a loss before financials and other
shares of results of DKK 96.7 million (a loss of DKK 86.5 million in the same
period of 2008).
NeuroSearch retains its financial guidance for the full year 2009, expecting a
loss before financials and other shares of results in the region of DKK 350
million.
The company's capital resources totalled DKK 550.7 million at 31 March 2009
(DKK 823.5 million at 31 March 2008). These financial resources together with
research revenues from existing partners are expected to be sufficient to fund
NeuroSearch's drug discovery and drug development activities until the end of
2010 assuming that no new licence agreements are entered into and that no
milestone payments are received.
Key events in Q1 2009 and the subsequent period:
• ACR16 - Huntington's disease: Successful completion of the patient
recruitment in the European Phase III study, MermaiHD.
In February 2009, NeuroSearch regained all commercial rights to ACR16,
including worldwide rights for the treatment of Huntington's disease.
• Tesofensine - obesity: Confirmation from the FDA regarding an End of Phase II
meeting and with an agreed meeting date in the second quarter of 2009.
• Development alliance with GSK: Expansion of the portfolio of development
candidates under the alliance collaboration, potentially leading to milestone
payments to NeuroSearch of a total of up to more than DKK 6 billion (more than
EUR 805 million) plus double-digit royalties on GSK's global sales of any
marketed product from the collaboration. In addition, NeuroSearch holds a
conditional share put option to sell shares to GSK totalling up to DKK 149
million (EUR 20 million).
• Discovery and development alliance with Eli Lilly (Lilly): New three-year
drug discovery and development alliance with Lilly under which NeuroSearch has
received DKK 29.5 million (USD 5 million) in cash payment and issued new shares
to the amount of DKK 99.2 million (USD 17 million) to Lilly at a price of DKK
187 per share. In addition, NeuroSearch will receive research funding of DKK
45.0 million (USD 8 million) plus substantial milestone payments and sales
royalties on new products developed under the alliance.
• ACR343 - schizophrenia: Successful completion of clinical Phase I studies
with ACR343. NeuroSearch expects to continue the clinical development of the
product for the treatment of schizophrenia.
• Phase II results with ABT-894 under development for neuropathic pain in
collaboration with Abbott showed that ABT-894 is safe and well-tolerated but
without sufficient effect on pain reduction to support the further development
in this indication. ABT-894 is also in development for the treatment of ADHD.
Phase II results with NS2359 for the treatment of depression in collaboration
with GSK also did neither demonstrate sufficient effect to support the further
development.
In connection with the announcement of the Q1 report for 2009, Flemming
Pedersen, CEO of NeuroSearch, comments:
“During the first months of the year we have reached important milestones. With
the completion of the patient recruitment in our European Phase III study with
ACR16 for the treatment of Huntington's disease we have moved an important step
closer to our aim of bringing our first product to the market. By entering new
drug discovery and development agreements with international pharmaceutical
companies, we have strengthened our capital resources and the basis for
bringing new products into our pipeline.”
Flemming Pedersen
CEO
Contact persons:
Flemming Pedersen, CEO, telephone: +45 4460 8214 or +45 2148 0118
Hanne Leth Hillman, Vice President, Director of Investor Relations & Corporate
Communications, telephone: +45 4460 8212 or +45 4017 5103
Presentation of the Q1 Report 2009
The Q1 2009 report will be reviewed at NeuroSearch's Annual General Meeting,
which will be held today at 4.00 pm at the Radisson SAS Falconer Hotel.
NeuroSearch - Company profile
NeuroSearch (NEUR) is a Scandinavian biopharmaceutical company listed on Nasdaq
OMX Copenhagen. The company's core business covers the development of novel
drugs, based on a broad and well-established drug discovery platform focusing
on ion channels and central nervous system (CNS) disorders. A substantial share
of the activities is partner financed through strategic alliances with Eli
Lilly and Company and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and a license collaboration with
Abbott. The drug pipeline comprises seven clinical (Phase I-III) development
programmes: ACR16 for Huntington's disease (Phase III), tesofensine for obesity
(Phase III ready), ABT-894 for ADHD (Phase II) in partnership with Abbott,
ACR325 to treat dyskinesias in Parkinson's disease (Phase II ready), ACR343 for
schizophrenia (Phase I), ABT-560 for the treatment of various CNS disorders
(Phase I) in collaboration with Abbott, and NSD-788 for anxiety/depression
(Phase I). In addition, NeuroSearch has a broad portfolio of preclinical drug
candidates and holds equity interests in several biotech companies.
