Innovir Laboratories Announces Third Quarter Results.NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 17, 1997-- Management Change and Key Findings on Drug Resistance Position Company for Advances Innovir Laboratories, Inc. (Nasdaq SmallCap: INVR) - a company that has been developing technologies based on oligozymes (catalytically active oligomers) both for the treatment and prevention of diseases and also for genomic and pharmaceutical research - has announced its results for the third quarter ended September 30, 1997. For the third quarter ending September 30, 1997, operating expenses Operating expenses The amount paid for asset maintenance or the cost of doing business, excluding depreciation. Earnings are distributed after operating expenses are deducted. were $2.2 million, as compared to $0.6 million for the same period in 1996, due principally to the acquisition of Innovir's operations in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of in December 1996, and increased R&D spending in the European operations. The net loss for the third quarter of 1997 was $2.2 million, or $0.08 per share, versus a net loss of $0.6 million, or $0.06 per share, for the same period in 1996. Weighted average shares outstanding for the three months ended September 30, 1997, were 28.0 million versus 9.5 million for the comparable 1996 period. Operating expenses for the nine months ending September 30, 1997 were $7.3 million, as compared to $4.5 million for the same nine month period in 1996. The net loss for the nine months ended September 30, 1997, was $7.3 million, or $0.34 per share, compared to a net loss of $4.4 million, or $0.46 per share, for the same nine month period in 1996. Weighted average shares outstanding for the nine months ended September 30, 1997, were 21.4 million versus 9.5 million for the comparable 1996 period. Cash and short-term investments at September 30, 1997, were $1.8 million versus $6.4 million at December 31, 1996. Innovir's cash position at the end of the third quarter is sufficient to cover needs for the balance of 1997. Plans are being developed to cover cash needs during 1998, including the likelihood that majority shareholder VIMRX Pharmaceuticals will continue to provide funding. "With a new, expanded management team, Innovir is well positioned to sustain the development of oligozyme technology," said Thomas R. Sharpe, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer. "Judging from recent research at Yale University Yale University, at New Haven, Conn.; coeducational. Chartered as a collegiate school for men in 1701 largely as a result of the efforts of James Pierpont, it opened at Killingworth (now Clinton) in 1702, moved (1707) to Saybrook (now Old Saybrook), and in 1716 was , we are particularly excited about the potential that Innovir's EGS EGS European Geophysical Society EGS European Graduate School EGS El Goonish Shive (webcomic) EGS Environmental Goods and Services EGS Employment Guarantee Scheme (UK) EGS EOS Ground System oligozymes may hold in overcoming bacterial resistance to antibiotics. We are also aggressively pursuing its development as a tool to aid target validation in drug discovery and for other therapeutic purposes." Key Developments for the Year to Date On September 26, 1997, Dr. Sharpe was appointed to his current position at Innovir, succeeding Allan R. Goldberg, Ph.D., as Chief Executive Officer. Prior to this, Dr. Sharpe served as a consultant to VIMRX Pharmaceuticals Inc. He formerly served as President and Chief Executive Officer of OsteoArthritis osteoarthritis or osteoarthrosis or degenerative joint disease Most common joint disorder, afflicting over 80% of those who reach age 70. It does not involve excessive inflammation and may have no symptoms, especially at first. Sciences, Inc., and also spent more than 25 years in research and development as well as management positions with The DuPont Company and The DuPont Merck Pharmaceutical Company. Also on September 26, David A. Jackson, Ph.D. - a member of Innovir's Board of Directors, as well as Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer of VIMRX Pharmaceuticals - succeeded Dr. Goldberg as Innovir's Chairman. As the foundation for its ongoing research and development, Innovir has an exclusive worldwide license from Yale University to commercialize EGS oligozymes, which can prevent cells from producing excess protein, which causes many diseases. The technology is a direct outgrowth of the work for which Dr. Sidney Altman Sidney Altman (born May 7, 1939 in Montreal, Quebec) is a molecular biologist, who is currently the Sterling Professor of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology and Chemistry at Yale University. In 1989 he shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Thomas R. , Sterling Professor of Biology at Yale, was awarded the 1989 Nobel Prize in Chemistry The Nobel Prize in Chemistry (Swedish: Nobelpriset i kemi) is awarded once a year by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. It is one of the six Nobel Prizes. The first prize was awarded in 1901. . In August 1997, Dr. Altman and his colleagues announced that they have discovered a way to use Innovir's EGS oligozymes to make drug-resistant bacteria drug- sensitive by eliminating the bacteria's defenses. The findings are significant because an increasing number of diseases once thought to be under control - such as meningitis meningitis (mĕnĭnjī`tĭs) or cerebrospinal meningitis (sĕr'əbrōspī`nəl), acute inflammation of the meninges, the membranes that cover and protect the brain and spinal cord. and tuberculosis - are developing resistance to antibiotics. Innovir Laboratories, Inc. (Nasdaq SmallCap: INVR) - a majority- owned subsidiary of VIMRX Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq: VMRX) - is a biotechnology company that has been developing technologies based on catalytically interactive oligomers (oligozymes), for pharmaceutical and genomic research and also for the treatment and prevention of diseases. As a research aid, oligozymes hold potential both to identify how different genes function and to identify and validate molecular targets for new drug therapies. The Company's technologies utilize either External Guide Sequences (EGS) oligozymes - which inactivate in·ac·ti·vate v. 1. To render nonfunctional. 2. To make quiescent. in·ac  ti·va targeted messenger RNA mes·sen·ger RNAn. See mRNA. (mRNA) through use of cellular enzyme RNase P Ribonuclease P (RNase P) is a type of Ribonuclease and is currently under heavy research. RNase P is unique from other RNases in that it is a ribozyme – a ribonucleic acid that acts as a catalyst in the same way that a protein based enzyme would. - or RILON(TM) oligozymes, which inactivate targeted mRNA directly. To complement its therapeutic and drug target validation programs, Innovir has developed a unique drug delivery tool called InnoPhor(TM) that makes it possible to target oligozymes to specific tissues. The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PSLRA) implemented several significant substantive changes affecting certain cases brought under the federal securities laws, including changes related to pleading, discovery, liability, class representation and awards fees and of 1995 provides a "safe harbor Safe Harbor 1. A legal provision to reduce or eliminate liability as long as good faith is demonstrated. 2. A form of shark repellent implemented by a target company acquiring a business that is so poorly regulated that the target itself is less attractive. " for certain forward-looking statements forward-looking statement A projected financial statement based on management expectations. A forward-looking statement involves risks with regard to the accuracy of assumptions underlying the projections. . The forward- looking statements contained in this release are subject to certain risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from current expectations. Among the factors which could affect the Company's actual results and could cause results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements contained herein are the success of the Company's clinical trials and the development of competing therapies and/or technologies by other companies. -0- NOTE TO INVESTORS AND EDITORS: Innovir's press releases are available on the Internet through VIMRX Pharmaceutical Inc.'s web site at www.vimrx.com and through BusinessWire's web site, under the VIMRX heading, at http://www.businesswire.com. The releases also are available at no charge through BusinessWire's fax-on-demand service at 800-411-8792. CONTACT: VIMRX Pharmaceuticals Media Contact: Laura A. Mastrangelo, 302/998-1734 or Investor Contact: The Investor Relations Investor relations The process by which the corporation communicates with its investors. Group Dian Griesel, Ph.D., 212/664-8489 |
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