VANCOUVER, Aug. 30 /CNW/ - Med BioGene Inc. (TSX Venture: MBI) today
reported its financial results for the second quarter ending June 30, 2006.
Recent Scientific and Business Highlights
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- August 3, 2006, MBI announced promising results of its pre-clinical
studies involving its Lymphoma Profiling System. The studies of fifty
RNA samples derived from human lymphoma tissues provide evidence that
MBI's Lymphoma Profiling System can be used as an effective tool for
accurate and rapid disease diagnosis and to unlock innovation in
therapeutic development and treatment. Furthermore, MBI narrowed its
lymphoma biomarkers to approximately 100 genes, thus increasing the
effectiveness of the product as a manageable diagnostic tool.
- August 1, 2006, MBI received renewed ethics board approval from the
Vancouver Coastal Health Authority. MBI received initial ethics board
approval in June 2005. As contemplated in the study protocol, Lion's
Gate Hospital will provide to MBI blood and tumour tissue samples of
confirmed lymphoma patients, and blood samples of confirmed leukemia
patients.
- June 30, 2006, MBI received ethics board approval from the Ontario
Cancer Research Ethics Board. Also, MBI and the Ontario Institute for
Cancer Research ("OICR") signed a material transfer agreement
pursuant to which the Ontario Tumour Bank, an initiative of the OICR,
will provide to MBI tumour tissue samples of confirmed lymphoma
patients.
- June 5, 2006, MBI appointed Bruce G. Cousins, Chief Financial Officer
of Aspreva Pharmaceuticals Corporation (NASDAQ: ASPV; TSX: ASV), as a
director.
- May 19, 2006, MBI appointed Erinn B. Broshko, a corporate and
securities lawyer with Farris, Vaughan, Wills & Murphy LLP, as Chief
Executive Officer and a director.
- April 28, 2006, MBI completed its public listing on the TSX Venture
Exchange along with a brokered private placement for gross proceeds
of $2 million.
>>
Erinn B. Broshko, Chief Executive Officer of MBI, stated "Med BioGene has
made tremendous progress over the last quarter. In respect of clinical
affairs, the most important development was our announcement of promising
pre-clinical results in respect of our Lymphoma Profiling System. We are very
pleased with these results and are enthusiastic about the prospects of our
Lymphoma Profiling System. We are also aggressively developing our Leukemia
Profiling System and anticipate entering shortly into the development and
validation phase for our Cardiovascular Disease Profiling System. In respect
of corporate affairs, MBI completed its public listing and a $2 million
private placement and continued to enhance the depth of its management and
board of directors."
Second Quarter 2006 Financial Results
For the three months ending June 30, 2006 MBI reported a net loss of
$2,342,651 ($0.13 per share) compared to a net loss of $109,140 ($0.01 per
share) for the three months ended June 30, 2005. The increase was primarily
due to $2,093,288 of transaction costs associated with the acquisition of
Dragon-Tex (Group) Limited that closed on April 28, 2006. These transaction
costs consisted of: (a) $2,000,000 representing the fair value of the shares
issued, and (b) $93,288 of assumed liabilities of Dragon-Tex, in both cases in
conjunction with the acquisition of Dragon-Tex.
Research and Development
Research and development expenditures were $107,058 for the three months
ended June 30, 2006 compared to $58,751 for the three months ended June 30,
2005 which was net of government assistance received and investment tax
credits. The increase was due primarily to stock-based compensation of $28,967
and an increase in personnel costs partially offset by a decrease in
laboratory supplies. In addition, there were $40,646 of government grants and
refundable tax credits recorded in the three months ended June 30, 2005, which
offset the related research and development costs incurred in that quarter.
General and Administrative
General and administrative expenses were $155,102 for the three months
ended June 30, 2006 compared to $38,651 for the three months ended June 30,
2005. The increase was due primarily to stock-based compensation expense of
$43,452 and public company costs of $41,184, including $30,000 for TSX Venture
Exchange filing fees.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Effective April 28, 2006, in conjunction with the listing of MBI's common
shares on the TSX Venture Exchange, MBI completed a private placement
financing for gross proceeds of $2 million. MBI has sufficient capital to
satisfy the operating expenses and capital requirements required to meet its
business objectives for at least twelve months. However, MBI will require
additional capital to complete the development of its product candidates,
begin development of additional products or undertake a strategic acquisition.
In such cases, MBI would review the different alternatives for obtaining
additional funding from one or several sources such as granting licenses or
disposing of certain non-core assets, cooperative research and development
agreements, government grants, tax credits, the issuance of treasury shares if
markets are favourable and other financial arrangements. MBI's inability to
obtain the necessary capital would adversely affect its ability to complete
such projects or strategic acquisitions.
About Med BioGene
MBI is a biotechnology company with advanced research and development in
gene expression technology. MBI intends to utilize its expertise in gene
expression to identifying those genes, known as "biomarkers," which mark the
presence of various diseases. These biomarkers will be used as an effective
tool for accurate and rapid disease diagnosis and to unlock innovation in
therapeutic development and treatment. With a robust set of qualified
biomarkers, disease diagnosis will be quicker, less invasive and more accurate
and the safety of new therapeutics will be increased, drug products will get
to patients in less time and treatment decisions will be more informed.
MBI is currently focused on developing and validating biomarkers in
respect of lymphoma and leukemia through its Hematological Cancer Profiling
System and anticipates beginning shortly the development of biomarkers in
respect of cardiovascular disease through its CVD Profiling System.
The TSX Venture Exchange does not accept responsibility for the adequacy
or accuracy of this release.
Certain statements in this press release contain forward-looking
information under applicable Canadian securities legislation. Words such as
"anticipates," "believes," "estimates," "expects," "intends," "may," "plans,"
"projects," "will," "would" and similar expressions are intended to identify
forward-looking information, although not all forward-looking information
contains these identifying words. Forward looking information includes, but
are not limited to, those with respect to future profits, future product
revenues, future operations and plans, the use of proceeds from financings,
the timing of clinical trials and the completion date for clinical trials and
the prospects for negotiating partnerships or collaborations and their timing.
These forward-looking statements or information are only predictions based
upon MBI's current expectations, and actual events or results may differ
materially. MBI may not actually achieve the plans, intentions or expectations
disclosed in its forward-looking information. Forward-looking information is
subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties and are based on
uncertain assumptions that could cause MBI's actual results and the timing of
events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking
information. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on this
forward-looking information, which speaks only as of the date of this press
release. Our forward-looking information does not reflect the potential impact
of any future partnerships, collaborations, acquisitions, mergers,
dispositions, joint ventures or investments MBI may make. All forward-looking
information is qualified in its entirety by this cautionary statement and MBI
undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking information
as a result of new information, future events or otherwise after the date of
this press release, other than as required by applicable law.
