Calgary, Alberta
March 15, 2006
SemBioSys Genetics Inc.
(TSX:SBS), a biotechnology company developing a broad pipeline
of protein-based pharmaceuticals and non-pharmaceutical
products, today announced its operational and financial results
for the fiscal year which ended on December 31, 2005.
2005 Highlights
Pharmaceutical Products
- Reported preclinical
results of plant-produced insulin in Arabidopsis in January
2006 Plant Biotechnology Journal, subsequent to year end.
- Increased levels of
insulin and Apo AI expression in Arabidopsis, the Company's
model plant system and continued development progress in
safflower, the commercial plant system.
Non-Pharmaceutical Products
- Initiated scale-up of
proprietary transgenic safflower-produced
ImmunoSphere(TM) Feed Additive in Chile.
- Announced receipt of
the second and final scheduled license payment from the
royalty-bearing license and sales agreement with Lonza
Inc. for the DermaSphere(R) Oleosome Technology. In mid
2005, Lonza
launched DermaSphere(R) under the Natrulon(R) OSF brand
into the personal care market.
- Continued work on the
DHA rich safflower oil program resulting in ongoing
research payments from its partner Martek Biosciences
Corporation.
- Received milestone
payments from Arcadia Biosciences, Inc. for progress in
the Company's GLA rich safflower oil program.
- Announced successful
completion of an animal vaccine feasibility program with
Dow AgroSciences LLC.
Corporate
- Completed a $15.5
million private placement through the issuance of
3.86 million units, each unit consisted of one
common share and one-half of one common share
purchase warrant.
- Completed a
$2,500,000 long-term debt financing agreement.
- Receipt of $2.6
million related to the exercise of the
over-allotment option of the Company's Initial
Public Offering.
- Expanded the
in-house plant growth facility to provide additional
capacity for plant research and development
operations.
"SemBioSys is carrying significant
momentum into 2006 due to our product development and corporate
progress in 2005. This success is highlighted by the launch of
our first commercial product DermaSphere(R) by our partner Lonza
Inc., our progress toward commercialization in other
non-pharmaceutical programs, and our progress to increase
expression levels of insulin in safflower. These results
demonstrate the ability of our team to achieve development
milestones and as a result, build value and attract the interest
of potential new partners," said Andrew Baum, President and CEO
of SemBioSys Genetics Inc. "A number of critical milestones are
upcoming in 2006 that will further demonstrate the viability of
our platform to produce high value proteins and products, in
particular, results of the commercial level of expression of
insulin in safflower, our commercial plant system, and targeted
expression levels of DHA in Arabidopsis, our model plant."
Financials
Total revenues for the fiscal year
ended December 31, 2005 were $2,459,202 compared to $1,467,868
for the corresponding period in 2004.
Revenues were generated from licensing fees, which were $763,031
for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2005, compared with
$343,099 for the same period in 2004, and contract research,
which was $1,696,171 for the 2005 fiscal year compared with
$1,124,769 for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2004. These
increases are from the Company's continued progress in its
existing collaborative arrangement with its partners.
Total expenditures for the year ended December 31, 2005 were
$9,734,220 compared to $7,185,581 for the year ended December
31, 2004.
Research and development expenses for the fiscal year ended
December 31, 2005 were $4,420,886, an increase of $0.6 million
from $3,849,292 for the 2004 fiscal year, this difference is
primarily from increased salary expenses, an enhanced quality
control and assurance program and additional field studies
related to product development programs. The Company increased
its research and development staff to begin preparation for
preclinical and clinical trials related to insulin and Apo AI
and future pipeline candidates.
General and administrative expenses for the year ended December
31, 2005 were $3,516,871 compared with $2,901,161 for the 2004
fiscal year, the difference is due mainly to additional costs
associated with being a publicly listed company including
listing fees, investor relations, and corporate governance.
Intellectual property costs for the year ended December 31, 2005
were $1,586,788 compared with $1,151,444 for the year ended
December 31, 2004. The difference is primarily due to the
payment of additional license fees in 2005, several new patents
that were filed in late 2005 and for further maintenance of
existing patents.
It should also be noted that the Company is no longer eligible
to have its investment tax credits refunded as a result of being
a publicly traded company. This has resulted in a $0.8 million
adverse effect in comparison to the prior year.
Net loss for the year ended December 31, 2005 was $6,824,545 or
($0.54) per share, compared to a net loss of $5,692,493 or
($0.95) per share for 2004.
As at December 31, 2005 the Company had cash and cash
equivalents totaling $28,513,095 compared to $18,836,396 at
December 31, 2004. Total long-term debt at December 31, 2005 was
$1,877,330. Cash provided by financing activities of $18,435,626
was a result of the three financing activities in 2005; the
over-allotment related to the Initial Public Offering of
$2,429,387, debt financing of $1,658,122 and $14,458,582 from
completion of the private placement offering, all net of issue
costs.
As at December 31, 2005 the Company had 16,559,030 common shares
outstanding, 4,565,296 warrants, and 926,639 options.
Outlook
The Company's priorities for 2006 are to achieve commercial
levels of expression in safflower of its pharmaceutical
products, insulin and Apo AI, and to advance the development of
its non-pharmaceutical ImmunoSphere(TM) and DHA rich safflower
oil programs. The upcoming milestone events expected in 2006
include:
- First royalties from sales of the DermaSphere(R) product
- Achievement of commercial levels of insulin expression in
safflower
- Achievement of commercial levels of Apo AI expression in
safflower
- Initiation of a new pharmaceutical product development program
- Scale-up of ImmunoSphere(TM) product in Chile for commercial
launch in 2007
- Achievement of key DHA proof-of-concept milestone
Additional information about the Company, including the MD&A and
financial results may be found on SEDAR at
www.sedar.com.
Calgary, Alberta-based SemBioSys Genetics Inc. is a
biotechnology company focused on the development,
commercialization and production of protein-based
pharmaceuticals and non-pharmaceutical products based on its
plant genetic engineering skills and proprietary oilbody-oleosin
technology platform - the Stratosome(TM) Biologics System. Its
two lead pharmaceutical product candidates are insulin and a
developmental cardiovascular drug called Apo AI. It also has a
series of non-pharmaceutical products addressing animal and
aquaculture health, nutritional oils and human topical markets.
SemBioSys currently has five major funded partnership
agreements, including agreements with Martek Biosciences
Corporation, Lonza Inc. and Arcadia Biosciences, Inc. |