BioCryst 4Q revenues dip in wake of cancellations, restructuring

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, a Durham drug developer, said it lost about a fifth of its revenue in the fourth quarter as the company continues adjusting to drug delays and a failed merger.

Revenue fell in the fourth quarter to $4.1 million last year from $5.2 million for the same three-month period in 2011. BioCryst's quarterly loss was $11.1 million, versus $13.2 million a year earlier, in the wake of an emergency restructuring that cut half the company's staff.

The per share loss was 22 cents, a few pennies better than analysts were projecting. One of BioCryst's strong suits is a cash reserve of $22 million to $26 million to get the company to its next round of funding or research grants.

“Our team is focused on achieving near-term milestones to rebuild shareholder value,” said CEO Jon P. Stonehouse in a statement.

The 37-employee company's stock is hovering near a decade low, closing at $1.38 a share Monday. The stock has dropped nearly 70 percent in the past year after peaking at $5.61 a share in March.

BioCryst is a 22-year-old company that has several antivirals and compounds under development but not a single medication on the U.S. market. Its most promising drug, peramivir, is approved in Japan and Koreo but the flu treatment was recently suspended in this country after inconclusive tests.

Peramivir had funded BioCryst with $235 million in federal research grants.

BioCryst has scheduled a conference call with analysts and investors this morning at 11 a.m. Participants can call 1-877-303-8027 (United States) or 1-760-536- 5165 (International), or access a webcast at www.biocryst.com.