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Research Triangle Park, North
Carolina
February 7, 2001
Paradigm Genetics, Inc. (Nasdaq: PDGM), a functional genomics company,
today reported financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended
December 31, 2000.
For the three months ended December 31, 2000 total revenues increased
292% to $4.5 million, compared to $1.2 million for the same period in 1999.
For the year ended December 31, 2000 total revenues increased 371% to
$10.3 million, compared to $2.2 million for the year ended December 31,
1999.
Higher throughput from Paradigm's Gene Function Factory(TM), the
successful delivery of version 2.0 of Paradigm's proprietary FunctionFinder(TM)
bioinformatics system and the delivery of assays to Bayer AG accounted
for the increase in revenues.
Total operating expenses for the
three months ended December 31, 2000, excluding non-cash compensation charges, increased
117% to $8.6 million compared to $4.0 million for the same period in 1999. Total operating
expenses for the year, excluding non-cash compensation charges, increased
126% to $27.7 million compared to $12.2 million for the same period in
1999. The increase in operating expenses in 2000 reflects the ramp up in
throughput in the GeneFunction Factory(TM), significant investments in the areas of
metabolic profiling, microbial genetics and informatics-based technologies, as
well as the addition of 79 research scientists and 22 employees in
business development and operations.
Including the non-cash compensation charges the company reported a
fourth-quarter 2000 net loss of $4.2 million, or $0.16 per common share,
compared to a net loss of $3.1 million, or $0.66 per common share for the
same period in 1999. Including the non-cash compensation charges and
excluding the beneficial conversion feature of Series C Preferred Stock, the company
reported a net loss for the year ended December 31, 2000 of $17.7
million, or $0.96 per common share, compared to a net loss of $10.6 million, or $2.51
per common share for the same period in 1999. Excluding the non-cash
compensation charges, the net loss for the three months and year ended December 31,
2000 would have been $3.8 million, or $0.15 per common share and $16.3 million
or $0.89 per common share.
"We are pleased with the progress we have made this year," said John
A. Ryals, PhD., Chief Executive Officer of Paradigm Genetics. "During 2000,
we opened our second-generation GeneFunction Factory(TM) and are now within
days of opening our third-generation factory which will give us an
unprecedented capacity for gene function determination. The infrastructure is in place
to exceed the expectations of our commercial partners, to add new commercial
partners and to develop our own products. Our economies of scale are
such that we believe we can determine gene function and discover novel targets
and assays at a faster rate and at a better price point than our competition.
In addition, we believe the recent guidelines issued by the U.S. Patent and
Trademark Office referring to utility requirements for the patentability
of sequences make our ability to determine gene function on an industrial
scale all the more valuable."
Highlights
* Paradigm delivered version 2.0 of a customized version of Paradigm's proprietary FunctionFinder(TM) bioinformatics system to Bayer.
This milestone is part of a commercial partnership between Paradigm and
Bayer under which Paradigm may receive up to $40 million.
* Paradigm successfully delivered many assays to Bayer during 2000.
* Paradigm was granted $375,000, the second half of a Phase II Small Business Innovation Research award, for ongoing gene discovery
work.
* Paradigm exceeded by 20% the milestone deliverables in its commercial partnership with Monsanto resulting in an undisclosed accelerated milestone payment.
* Paradigm discovered its 100th herbicide target in the fourth quarter of 2000.
Outlook
The following statements are based on current expectations. These statements are forward-looking, and actual results may differ materially.
These statements do not include the potential impact of any mergers,
acquisitions or other business combinations that may be closed or entered
into after December 31, 2000.
During 2001, Paradigm believes that it will achieve the following milestones:
* Expand existing commercial partnerships and secure new partnerships
* Discover novel herbicide targets
* Develop novel high-throughput screening assays for herbicide discovery
* Discover gene functions and develop intellectual property on genes of commercial interest in agricultural biotechnology
In the absence of new collaborations, Paradigm anticipates that revenues for the year ending December 31, 2001 will increase in the range of 120%
to 140% from the preceding year and that expenses will increase in the range
of 40% and 50% from the previous year.
About Paradigm Genetics
Paradigm Genetics is industrializing the process of gene function
discovery for four major sectors of the global economy: human health, nutrition,
crop production, and industrial products. The company has designed the
GeneFunction Factory(TM) -- an integrated, rapid, industrial-scale
laboratory through which it discovers gene function. Paradigm and its strategic
partners intend to develop novel products using information developed with the
GeneFunction Factory(TM). Paradigm's GeneFunction Factory(TM) is based
on a state of the art phenomics platform integrated with metabolic profiling
and gene expression profiling technologies. The backbone of the GeneFunction
Factory(TM) is the company's proprietary FunctionFinder(TM) bioinformatics
system, used to collect, store, analyze, and retrieve information. For
more information visit www.paragen.com .
Company news release
N3300 |
