Canadian biopharmaceutical company MethylGene has reported a net loss of C$6.1m or C$0.17 per share for the first quarter ended March 31, 2009 compared to a net loss of C$5.2m or C$0.14 per share for the first quarter ended March 31, 2008.
Total revenues for the first quarter ended March 31, 2009 were C$1.7m compared to C$4.2m for the same period of 2008. The company has said that this reduction in revenue was primarily due to the termination of the collaboration agreement with Celgene surrounding MGCD0103 and sirtuin inhibitors for cancer; this was partially offset by revenues received from the company’s collaboration with Otsuka Pharmaceutical.
Total expenditures for the first quarter ended March 31, 2009 were C$7.7m compared to C$9.4m for the same period in 2008, of which net R&D expenditures decreased to C$7.1m in the first quarter of 2009 from C$8.5m in the first quarter of 2008. This decrease reflects lower expenses for MGCD0103 and discovery research which was partially offset by higher clinical trial expenditures for MGCD265.
On March 31, 2009 the Company had cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments totaling $31.6m. The Company believes that its current cash and investments, plus expected tax credits, interest income and projected revenues from our ongoing collaborations to be sufficient to carry out planned research and development activities into the third quarter of 2010.