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30 January 2002
Auckland, New Zealand, 30th January 2002 — Genesis Research and Development Corporation Limited [NZSE & ASX: GEN] today announced that it finished the year with cash reserves of $47.9 million to fund continuing research. Genesis invested $20.5 million in research expenditure, including Clinical Trial costs of $4.5 million (2000: $7.6 million), as it utilised funds available from the 2000 IPO and PVAC™ licensing. Staff numbers increased from 124 to 159 following a significant expansion of research and facilities. Operating income of $20.0 million from interest, collaborations and licensing fees was lower than the $28.7 million reported in 2000, which included a major licensing payment from Medicis, the PVAC™ licensee in North America. In accordance with Genesis policy for the accounting treatment of research costs, the reported deficit of $9.5 million (2000: Net Surplus $0.7 million) includes a $1.6 million write down of the recent investment in BioStore NZ Ltd, following the acquisition of the remaining 23.7% minority shareholding. A Net Deficit of $9.1 million was forecast in the 2000 Investment Statement and Prospectus. No dividend will be paid. Design of the next US clinical trial of PVAC™ for the treatment of psoriasis has been agreed with the FDA. Patients will be selected who have not had previous immuno-suppressive treatments. They will receive 4 injections of placebo or PVAC™ over 15 weeks. Response will be assessed for 24 weeks from commencement of treatment. The multi-centre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial will commence when product is released from manufacturing and the release documentation is reviewed by the FDA. Additional details will be released when the trial commences. Clinical trials for the use of PVAC™ for the treatment of psoriasis continue in Brazil and Philippines. Genesis expects to announce the results when the trials are complete in mid 2002. A Phase I clinical trial is currently being conducted in New Zealand for the use of AVAC™ in the treatment of atopic dermatitis (eczema). Results are expected to be available this quarter. Genesis intends to seek a full listing on the ASX if the proposed rule changes preclude continuation of the current listing as an exempt foreign entity. The Annual Meeting will be held in Auckland on Wednesday 27th March. About Genesis Founded in 1994, Genesis is a New Zealand-based biotechnology company committed to the building of a broad genomic platform for the development of innovative products in health and plant biotechnology. Genesis partners with industry leaders to develop products which have global market potential through the mining of its extensive microbe, plant and mammalian EST databases. The Health Division has three programmes in human clinical development for the treatment of psoriasis, atopic dermatitis (eczema) and asthma, with additional programmes for cancer and other indications in pre-clinical development. The patented BioStore solutions for storage of tissues and living cells are also in pre-clinical development. Collaborations are maintained with Immunex Corporation (NASDAQ: IMNX), Corixa Corporation (NASDAQ: CRXA), SR Pharma (LSE: SPA), and Jurox Pty Ltd. The Plant division has research collaborations with ArborGen, Wrightson (NZSE: WRI), HortResearch, AgResearch and has recently completed a collaboration agreement with Landcare to discover compounds that control botrytis and potentially other fungi. Genesis is also undertaking significant unpartnered research programmes in novel plant hormones. The company has an extensive health and plant patent portfolio. For more information, please visit www.genesis.co.nz Media contacts: Dr James D Watson, Chief Executive, Genesis Research and Development Corporation Limited, +64 9 373 5600 Allan Botica, Botica Conroy and Associates, +64 9 303 3862, +64 21 400 500, allanb@bca.co.nz |