Vical Posts Net Loss Of $8.2 Million In Q1 2009

Published: 07-May-2009

Vical Incorporated (Vical), an in vitro diagnostics and drug delivery devices company, has reported revenues of $2.3 million for the first quarter of 2009, compared with the revenues of $1.9 million in the year-ago quarter. It has also reported a net loss of $8.2 million, or $0.20 per share, for the first quarter of 2009, compared with the net loss of $9.6 million, or $0.24 per share, in the year-ago quarter.

Operating expenses decreased to $10.6 million for the first quarter of 2009 from $12.0 million for the first quarter of 2008, primarily as a result of a strategic restructuring implemented in the fourth quarter of 2008.

As of March 31, 2009, the company had cash and investments of $34 million including about $5 million invested in long-term auction rate securities. The company's first quarter 2009 net cash burn was consistent with the company's prior guidance of a full-year 2009 net cash burn of between $19 million and $23 million.

Additional 2009 Key Program Developments

Additional developments in the company's key programs to date in 2009 included:

Selection of Vaxfectin, the company's patented adjuvant, by R&D Directions editors for the magazine's 8th annual list of "100 Great Investigational Drugs" featured as the cover article in the March 2009 issue;

Publication in the Journal of General Virology of data from preclinical studies identifying potential targets for development of a herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) vaccine, which will be evaluated with Vical's novel Vaxfectin adjuvant under a previously disclosed grant; and

The second scheduled safety analysis by an independent Safety Monitoring Board and recommended continuation of the company's Phase 3 Allovectin-7 trial in patients with metastatic melanoma;

Receipt of a $2.3 million cash payment from AnGes MG, Inc., for continued funding of the company's AIMM trial;

Presentations of clinical results and future goals for the company's TransVax cytomegalovirus (CMV) and pandemic influenza vaccine programs at the 12th Annual Conference on Vaccine Research sponsored by the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID) and at the 5th WHO Meeting on Evaluation of Pandemic Influenza Prototype Vaccines in Clinical Trials;

Issuance of US Patent No. 7,470,675 covering the composition, delivery and use of gene-based interferon-omega, which may help direct and control the immune system.

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