>>CV Therapeutics narrows loss, hires banker to advise on strategic options Monday July 30, 5:37 pm ET
CV Therapeutics Inc. said Monday it hired Frederick Frank, Lehman Brothers vice chairman, to counsel the company on strategic opportunities.
"We believe his advice will be extremely helpful as we work to maximize our business and drive shareholder value," said Louis Lange, CV Therapeutics' chairman and CEO in a statement.
The company did not specify what options it would consider. Firms exploring "strategic opportunities" are often considering options like selling the company.
In May, CV Therapeutics announced a plan to cut jobs and reduce its number of sales territories to lower operating expenses. It also said it was looking for a partner.
CV Therapeutics Inc. of Palo Alto works on developing drugs for cardiovascular diseases. Its drug Ranexa was approved last year to help treat chronic angina and other drugs in developemnt.
The company's shares (NASDAQ:CVTX - News) have fallen 62 percent since September 2005 amid concern Ranexa would not realize early expectations.
Separately the company reported earnings on Monday that showed it lost less in the second quarter than in the year-earlier period. The company lost $57.6 million, or 97 cents a share in the quarter, compared with a loss in the same period last year of $73.1 million or $1.59 a share.
Revenue more than tripled from a year ago to $25.4 million from $6.85 million.
The figures were boosted by a $7 million milestone payment, reimbursement for some development costs, and a 28 percent increase in sales of its angina drug Ranexa to $15.3 million.
Analysts expected, on average, a loss of 91 cents a share on $21 million in revenue.
Published July 30, 2007 by San Francisco Business Times <<
>>CV Therapeutics Significantly Reduces Operating Expenses Thursday May 24, 6:30 am ET -- Focused commercial and R&D efforts extend cash resources --
PALO ALTO, Calif., May 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- CV Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: CVTX - News) announced today that it is lowering its annual operating expense guidance by approximately $75 million. Prior operating expense guidance for the calendar year 2007 was $275-$285 million. The Company now estimates that operating expenses for the next four quarters (Q3 2007 to Q2 2008) will total $200-$210 million.
These planned savings will be realized primarily through significant optimization of the Company's field sales organization, enhanced focus of R&D activities and substantial reductions in SG&A spending, and have been achieved through a combination of reductions in field and headquarters personnel and outside expenses.
"Based on the results from the MERLIN TIMI-36 study and our historical Ranexa revenue trend, we believe that the difficult but necessary action we have taken to significantly reduce our operating expenses improves the Company's potential to begin generating profits sooner, by allowing us to maximize the potential upside of future revenue growth, new potential indications and partnership opportunities with Ranexa, regadenoson or our other pipeline products," said Louis G. Lange, M.D., Ph.D., CV Therapeutics chairman and chief executive officer.
The reorganization of the Company's commercial operations is intended to maximize profitability on a territory-by-territory basis, while retaining the ability to capitalize on potential continued growth in Ranexa revenues. Based on this optimized sales alignment, which eliminated or consolidated a number of unprofitable territories, most new territories will be profitable immediately after the reorganization. The Company will now have approximately 140 sales territories, compared to approximately 250 sales territories previously.
The Company also has reduced G&A expenses for the next four quarters (Q3 2007 to Q2 2008) by approximately 15 percent. In total, SG&A expenses in the United States will be reduced by $55 - 60 million, or approximately 33 percent over that time period. Overall R&D spending is expected to be reduced by almost 20 percent, or $15 - 20 million on an annual basis. This focused R&D budget will allow the Company to continue pursuing several promising programs, while delaying, scaling-back or potentially partnering some early stage preclinical programs. These R&D reductions are in addition to the $30 million annual reduction in R&D spending compared to 2006 levels that were previously announced.
In conjunction with the reduction in operating expenses, the Company expects to record approximately $16-20 million in one-time expenses and charges in the second quarter of 2007. <<
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