Targanta Therapeutics Corporation (Nasdaq: TARG) today reported
financial results for the quarter and full year ended December 31, 2007.
Targanta reported a net loss of $10.7 million for the three months ended
December 31, 2007, compared to a net loss of $8.7 million for the same
period in 2006. This increase is primarily due to increases in research
and development expenses related to advancement of the Company’s
lead antibiotic candidate, oritavancin, for which Targanta recently
submitted a New Drug Application (NDA) to the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) and on which the Company is conducting additional
clinical trials. For the full year ended December 31, 2007, the Company
reported a net loss of $63.3 million compared to a net loss of $30.1
million for the same period in 2006. The calculation of net loss for the
fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2007 includes
stock-based compensation expense of $0.5 million and $2.2 million,
respectively.
The Company had cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments
totaling $90.3 million as of December 31, 2007 and 21.0 million shares
outstanding.
On October 9, 2007, the Company completed its initial public offering,
issuing 5.75 million shares of its Common Stock at a price of $10.00 per
share. Net proceeds to the Company were approximately $51.1 million
after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and offering
expenses.
“2007 was a year of great accomplishment at
Targanta, culminating in our recent first regulatory submission for
oritavancin,” said Mark Leuchtenberger,
President and Chief Executive Officer of Targanta. “With
our Series C fundraising early in 2007, our successful IPO in October,
and key additions to our senior management team, we believe we are well
positioned to bring oritavancin to market, should we gain approval,
providing physicians and hospitals with a new tool to fight resistant
bacterial skin infections.”
About Targanta Therapeutics
Targanta Therapeutics Corporation (NASDAQ: TARG) is a biopharmaceutical
company focused on developing and commercializing innovative antibiotics
to treat serious infections in the hospital and other institutional
settings. The Company’s pipeline includes
oritavancin, a semi-synthetic lipoglycopeptide antibiotic currently
awaiting U.S. regulatory approval, as well as a number of antibacterial
agents in pre-clinical development. The Company has operations in
Cambridge, MA, Indianapolis, IN, and Montreal, Québec,
Canada. To find out more about Targanta, visit www.targanta.com.
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains “forward-looking
statements” that are made pursuant to the safe
harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. These are statements that are predictive in nature, that depend
upon or refer to future events or conditions or that include words such
as “may,” "will,"
"expects," "projects," "anticipates," "estimates," "believes,"
"intends," "plans," "should," "seeks," and similar expressions.
Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and
uncertainties that may cause actual future results to differ materially
from those projected or contemplated in the forward-looking statements.
Forward-looking statements may be significantly impacted by certain
risks and uncertainties described in Targanta’s
filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The risks and
uncertainties referred to above include, but are not limited to, risks
related to Targanta’s dependence on the
success of oritavancin; delays in obtaining or a failure to obtain
regulatory approval for Targanta’s product
candidates; failure of any approved product to achieve significant
commercial acceptance in the medical community or receive reimbursement
by third-party payors; unfavorable clinical trial results; failure to
maintain and protect Targanta’s intellectual
property assets and to avoid infringing the intellectual property rights
of others; competition from other pharmaceutical or biotechnology
companies; Targanta’s potential inability to
initiate and complete pre-clinical studies and clinical trials for its
product candidates; the possibility that results of pre-clinical studies
are not necessarily predictive of clinical trial results; and those
other risks factors that are described more fully in the Company’s
filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Targanta does not
undertake any obligation to update any of these forward-looking
statements to reflect a change in its views or events or circumstances
that occur after the date of this release.
- Tables Follow -
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET INFORMATION
(in thousands)
December 31, 2007
December 31, 2006
Cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments
$
90,259
$
12,533
Working capital (deficit)
77,844
(9,895
)
Long-term debt
14,287
16,868
Total stockholders’ equity (deficit)
64,873
(41,490
)
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
(in thousands, except share and per share amounts)
Three Months Ended December 31,
Twelve Months Ended
December 31,
2007
2006
2007
2006
(Unaudited)
Operating expenses
Research and development
$
8,830
$
4,241
$
34,648
$
11,456
Acquired in-process research and development
—
—
17,152
—
General and administrative
2,601
1,172
9,835
3,352
Total operating expenses
11,431
5,413
61,635
14,808
Other income (expense)
Interest income
987
35
2,542
280
Interest expense
(380
)
(2,908
)
(2,890
)
(14,968
)
Foreign exchange gain (loss)
(87
)
(270
)
(1,735
)
(214
)
Other income (expense), net
520
(3,143
)
(2,083
)
(14,902
)
Loss before income tax (expense) benefit
(10,911
)
(8,556
)
(63,718
)
(29,710
)
Income tax benefit (expense)
246
(112
)
371
(431
)
Net loss
$
(10,665
)
$
(8,668
)
$
(63,347
)
$
(30,141
)
Net loss per share—basic and diluted
$
(0.55
)
$
(360.97
)
$
(13.12
)
$
(1,266.55
)
Weighted average number of common shares used in net loss per share—basic
and diluted
19,148,042
25,282
4,845,266
25,282
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