PETAH TIKVA (dpa-AFX) - OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (OGXI) reported that its fourth-quarter net loss widened to $9.6 million, or $0.98 per share, from $2.8 million, or $0.31 per share in the year ago quarter.
Collaboration revenue for the fourth quarter decreased to $1.2 million from $2.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2010.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report a loss of $0.61 per share on revenues of $1.86 million for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.
The company expect 2012 operating cash requirements of between $40 million and $45 million, and expect to end 2012 with cash, cash equivalents, investments, and receivables from Teva of between $20 million and $25 million.
In separate press release, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (TEVA) and OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals announced an update on their development program for custirsen, a product candidate being evaluated in Phase 3 studies for castrate-resistant prostate cancer or CRPC.
In a revised agreement between the two companies, the clinical trial program will now include the initiation of a Phase 3 study to evaluate if custirsen has the potential to improve survival rates for prostate cancer patients when combined with the recently-approved, second-line chemotherapy drug Jevtana (cabazitaxel). The study is expected to begin in the second-half of 2012.
The new trial, which aims to enroll approximately 630 men and is expected to begin later this year, will be conducted in lieu of the Prostate Cancer Saturn Study, a trial designed with a primary endpoint of measuring a durable pain palliation benefit for custirsen in second-line treatment of CRPC. The shift in focus to evaluate overall survival in second-line prostate cancer is a result of numerous, recently-approved agents that are redefining the standard of care in this patient setting.
Custirsen's other Phase 3 study, SYNERGY, evaluating a survival benefit in the first-line CRPC setting, continues to accrue patients and is expected to complete enrollment later this year. The companies are increasing the enrollment from 800 to 1000 patients to optimize the potential to be submitted to regulatory agencies independent of additional Phase 3 studies. The increase in enrollment is not expected to alter timelines for completion of the study.
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