Cyclacel Pharmaceuticals Announces Third Quarter 2008 Financial Results

Conference Call Scheduled Thursday, November 6 At 4:30 p.m. Eastern


BERKELEY HEIGHTS, N.J., Nov. 6, 2008 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cyclacel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq:CYCC) (Nasdaq:CYCCP) announced today financial and operating results for the third quarter of 2008. The Company's net loss for the quarter, which included $0.5 million of one-time restructuring charges and non-cash items of $6.3 million of goodwill and intangibles impairment and $4.8 million of unrealized foreign exchange losses, was $17.6 million or $0.86 per share. For the third quarter of 2008, the Company recorded $0.3 million of net product sales of Xclair(r) and Numoisyn(tm) representing an increase of 53 percent compared to the prior quarter. As of September 30, 2008, the Company had $33.7 million in cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments.

Cyclacel also announced that FDA has granted an end of Phase 2 meeting in which the development of sapacitabine for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) will be discussed. The meeting is scheduled to take place in the first quarter of 2009.

"Cyclacel continued to make progress in the third quarter across our business. The completion of enrollment ahead of schedule in the Phase 2 clinical trial of sapacitabine in elderly patients with AML and the rapid initiation of the MDS stratum underline the strong interest by investigators and patients in sapacitabine. We look forward to upcoming milestones including the end of Phase 2 meeting with FDA and the readout of the Phase 2 data once they mature," said Spiro Rombotis, President and Chief Executive Officer of Cyclacel. "Our sales force has been steadily building awareness of our marketed products and achieved promising quarter-on-quarter growth. During the quarter, we also revised our operating plan to reduce expenditure and concentrate our efforts on developing sapacitabine as rapidly as possible."

"Following the revised operating plan and consequent reduction in our burn rate, we anticipate that current cash and cash equivalents will be sufficient to meet our funding needs until the first quarter of 2010," said Paul McBarron, Executive Vice President, Finance and Chief Operating Officer. "In addition, subject to certain conditions, we have access to the committed equity financing facility with Kingsbridge Capital for up to $60 million; although we have not as yet drawn down from this facility."

Third Quarter Highlights:



 * Completed enrollment in the Phase 2 clinical trial of sapacitabine
   in elderly patients with AML.

 * Initiated Phase 2 development of sapacitabine as a second-line
   treatment for MDS.

 * An independent data review committee, or IDRC, recommended that the
   Phase 2b seliciclib APPRAISE study continue after reviewing data
   from 173 patients with previously-treated non-small cell lung
   cancer, or NSCLC, of whom 45 proceeded into the blinded randomized
   portion of the study.  Although new patient enrolment was halted,
   follow-up of existing patients continues.

 * Announced an operating plan revision to concentrate resources on
   the advancement of sapacitabine, while maintaining the Company's
   core competency in drug discovery and cell cycle biology.

 * Appointed Nicholas Bacopoulos, Ph.D. to the Board of Directors.

Key Financials:

Total revenues for the third quarter of 2008 were $0.3 million representing an increase of 53 percent compared to $0.2 million recorded in the prior quarter. These were mainly attributable to net product sales of Xclair(r) and Numoisyn(tm) by ALIGN, Cyclacel's wholly owned subsidiary acquired in October 2007.

Total research and development (R&D) expenses in the third quarter of 2008 were $4.0 million as compared to $4.4 million in the third quarter of 2007. The decrease in spending in the third quarter of 2008, compared to the same period in 2007, was primarily due to decreased spending on early stage programs.

Total selling, general and administrative expenses (SG&A) for the third quarter of 2008 were $3.2 million as compared to $2.5 million in the third quarter of 2007. The increase in spending in the third quarter of 2008, compared to the same period in 2007, was primarily attributable to ALIGN for which there were no costs in the comparative period.

Other income (expense) in the third quarter of 2008 showed an expense of $4.1 million as compared to income of $2.3 million in the third quarter of 2007. The increase in expense was primarily due to unrealized foreign exchange loss of $4.8 million in the third quarter of 2008 compared to a $0.5 million foreign exchange gain in the same period in 2007 arising from intercompany loans with our wholly-owned subsidiaries due to the translation effects of the U.S. dollar against the British pound together with a change in the valuation of warrants and a reduction in interest income earned.

Other operating expenses in the third quarter of 2008 also included a non-cash charge of $6.3 million for goodwill and intangibles impairment in respect of the acquisitions of Xcyte Therapies, Inc. and ALIGN following Cyclacel's annual test for impairment. For the three months ended September 30, 2007 there was no impairment charge for either goodwill or intangibles. The third quarter of 2008 also included one-time restructuring costs of $0.5 million related to the implementation of the revised operating plan.

The net loss in the third quarter of 2008 was $17.6 million or $0.86 per share as compared to $4.2 million in the third quarter of 2007 or $0.21 per share.

Cyclacel also reported results of its operations for the nine months ended September 30, 2008. For the nine months ended September 30, 2008, the Company reported revenues of $0.6 million. These revenues were largely attributable to sales of Xclair(r) and Numoisyn(tm) sold by Cyclacel's wholly owned subsidiary, ALIGN, which was acquired in October 2007.

For the nine months ended September 30, 2008, R&D expenses were $15.7 million as compared to $12.7 million in the comparable period in 2007. The increase in spending in the first nine months of 2008, compared to the same period in 2007, was primarily due to increased spending on the clinical development of sapacitabine.

For the nine months ended September 30, 2008, SG&A expenses were $11.3 million as compared to $8.0 million in the comparable period in 2007. The increase in spending in the first nine months of 2008, compared to the same period in 2007, was primarily attributable to ALIGN for which there were no costs in the comparative period as well as increased professional and personnel costs.

Other income (expense) for the nine months ended September 30, 2008 showed an expense of $0.4 million as compared to income of $6.5 million in the comparable period in 2007. The increase in expense was primarily due to unrealized foreign exchange loss of $4.6 million in the nine months ended September 30, 2008 compared to a $1.1 million foreign exchange gain in the same period in 2007 arising from intercompany loans with our wholly-owned subsidiaries due to the translation effects of the US dollar against the British pound together with a change in the valuation of warrants and a reduction in interest income earned.

Other operating expenses for the nine months ended September 30 2008 also included a non-cash charge of $6.3 million for goodwill and intangibles impairment in respect of the acquisitions of Xcyte Therapies, Inc. and ALIGN following Cyclacel's annual test for impairment. For the nine months ended September 30, 2007 there was no impairment charge required for either goodwill or intangibles. The third quarter of 2008 also included restructuring costs of $0.5 million related to the implementation of the revised operating plan.

For the nine months ended September 30, 2008, the Company reported a net loss of $32.4 million, or $1.59 per share, compared to a net loss for the same period in 2007 of $12.7 million, or $0.65 per share.

Conference call and Webcast Information:

Cyclacel management will conduct a conference call on November 6, 2008 at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time to review its results. Conference call and webcast details are as follows:



 US/Canada call: (877) 493-9121 / international call: (973) 582-2750
 US/Canada archive: (800) 642-1687 /international archive: (706) 645-9291
 Code for live and archived conference call is 71872501

For the live and archived webcast, please visit the Corporate Presentations page on the Cyclacel website at www.cyclacel.com. The webcast will be archived for 90 days and the audio replay for 7 days.

About Cyclacel Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Cyclacel is a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery, development and commercialization of novel, mechanism-targeted drugs to treat human cancers and other serious disorders. Three orally-available Cyclacel drugs are in clinical development. Sapacitabine (CYC682), a cell cycle modulating nucleoside analog, is in Phase 2 studies for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia in the elderly, myelodysplastic syndromes and cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. Seliciclib (CYC202 or R-roscovitine), a CDK (cyclin dependent kinase) inhibitor, is in Phase 2 for the treatment of lung cancer and nasopharyngeal cancer. CYC116, an Aurora kinase and VEGFR2 inhibitor, is in Phase 1 in patients with solid tumors. Several additional programs are at an earlier stage. Cyclacel's ALIGN Pharmaceuticals subsidiary markets directly in the U.S. Xclair(r) Cream for radiation dermatitis, Numoisyn(tm) Liquid and Numoisyn(tm) Lozenges for xerostomia. Cyclacel's strategy is to build a diversified biopharmaceutical business focused in hematology, oncology and other therapeutic areas based on a portfolio of commercial products and a development pipeline of novel drug candidates.

Please visit www.cyclacel.com for additional information. Note: The Cyclacel logo and Cyclacel(r) are trademarks of Cyclacel Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Numoisyn(tm) and Xclair(r) are trademarks of Sinclair Pharma plc.

Risk Factors

This news release contains certain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to be materially different from historical results or from any future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements include statements regarding, among other things, the efficacy, safety, and intended utilization of Cyclacel's product candidates, the conduct and results of future clinical trials, plans regarding regulatory filings, future research and clinical trials and plans regarding partnering activities. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially include the risk that product candidates that appeared promising in early research and clinical trials do not demonstrate safety and/or efficacy in larger-scale or later clinical trials, the risk that Cyclacel will not obtain approval to market its products, the risks associated with reliance on outside financing to meet capital requirements, and the risks associated with reliance on collaborative partners for further clinical trials, development and commercialization of product candidates. You are urged to consider statements that include the words "may," "will," "would," "could," "should," "believes," "estimates," "projects," "potential," "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "intends," "continues," "forecast," "designed," "goal," or the negative of those words or other comparable words to be uncertain and forward-looking. These factors and others are more fully discussed under "Risk Factors" in the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2007, as supplemented by the interim quarterly reports, filed with the SEC.



                    CYCLACEL PHARMACEUTICALS, INC.
                 CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

                              (Unaudited)

                                                           Period from
                                                            August 13,
                                                              1996
                    For the three         For the nine     (inception)
                    months ended          months ended         to
                    September 30,         September 30,     Sept. 30,
               --------------------- --------------------- ----------
                  2007       2008       2007       2008       2008
               ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
                                      ($000s)

 Revenues:
   Collaboration
    and research
    and develo-
    pment reve-
    nue                --         --         10         --      3,000
   Product rev-
    enue               --        257         --        590        590
   Grant revenue       33         12        107         36      3,632
               ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
                       33        269        117        626      7,222
 Operating
  expenses:
   Cost of
    goods sold         --        120         --        315        315
   Research and
    development     4,449      4,030     12,742     15,718    157,262
   Selling, ge-
    neral and
    administra-
    tive            2,523      3,218      8,022     11,337     59,291
   Goodwill and
    intangibles
    impairment         --      6,344         --      6,344      6,344
   Restructur-
    ing costs          --        489         81        489      2,268
               ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
 Total operating
  expenses          6,972     14,201     20,845     34,203    225,480
               ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
 Operating loss    (6,939)   (13,932)   (20,728)   (33,577)  (218,258)

 Other income
  (expense):
   Costs assoc-
    iated with
    aborted
    2004 IPO           --         --         --         --     (3,550)
   Change in
    valuation
    of deriva-
    tive              (19)        --        (89)        --       (308)
   Change in
    valuation
    of warrants       951        432      2,815      3,321      6,526
   Foreign ex-
    change
    gains/(los-
    ses)              459     (4,776)     1,139     (4,638)    (4,180)
   Interest
    income            955        287      2,769      1,184     13,345
   Interest
    expense           (54)       (69)      (154)      (244)    (4,383)
               ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
 Total other
  income (expe-
  nse)              2,292     (4,126)      6,480      (377)     7,450
 Loss before
  taxes            (4,647)   (18,058)   (14,248)   (33,954)  (210,808)
 Income tax
  benefit             433        411      1,549      1,511     16,036
               ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
 Net loss          (4,214)   (17,647)   (12,699)   (32,443)  (194,772)

 Dividends on
  Preferred Or-
  dinary shares        --         --         --         --    (38,123)
               ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
 Net loss appl-
  icable to
  ordinary
  shareholders     (4,214)   (17,647)   (12,699)   (32,443)  (232,895)
               ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
 Net loss per
  share - basic
  and diluted      $(0.21)    $(0.86)    $(0.65)    $(1.59)
               ========== ========== ========== ==========
 Weighted
  average
  shares       20,433,129 20,433,129 19,685,457 20,433,129
               ========== ========== ========== ==========


                    CYCLACEL PHARMACEUTICALS, INC.
                 CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

                              (Unaudited)

                                                   As of     As of
                                                 Dec. 31,   Sept. 30,
                                                   2007       2008
                                                ---------- ----------
                                                   $000       $000
 ASSETS
 Current assets:
   Cash and cash equivalents                        30,987     26,723
   Short-term investments                           27,766      6,998
   Inventory                                           213        571
    Prepaid expenses and other current assets        4,811      3,017
                                                ---------- ----------
   Total current assets                             63,777     37,309
  Property, plant and equipment (net)                3,016      2,288
  Deposits and other assets                            196        196
  Intangible assets (net)                            4,305         --
  Goodwill                                           4,618      1,832
                                                ---------- ----------
  Total assets                                      75,912     41,625
                                                ========== ==========
  LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS EQUITY
  Current liabilities:
   Accounts payable                                  4,958      1,301
   Accrued liabilities                               4,015      5,710
   Other current liabilities                         1,279      1,291
   Warrant liability                                 3,545        224
   Current portion of other accrued
    restructuring charges                              905      1,349
   Current portion of equipment financing               10         --
                                                ---------- ----------
   Total current liabilities                        14,712      9,875
  Other accrued restructuring charges, net of
   current                                           2,090      1,361
  Other long term payables                           1,141        616
                                                ---------- ----------
  Total liabilities                                 17,943     11,852
                                                ---------- ----------

  Stockholders' equity:                             57,969     29,773
                                                ---------- ----------
 Total liabilities and stockholders' equity         75,912     41,625
                                                ========== ==========


            

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