Cempra reports net loss of $6.6 milllion in fourth quarter

Chapel Hill drug-development company Cempra reported a net loss of $6.6 million, or 26 cents per share, in the fourth quarter.

That compared to a net loss of $3.8 million, or $7.13 per share, during the same period in 2011.

The company spent $4.4 million on research and development in the quarter, a 203 percent increase. The increased expenses were related to several clinical trial programs. Administration costs also increased 73 percent in the quarter, driven mostly by added employee and legal expenses.

Cempra doesn't have any drugs on the market.

It is developing a pneumonia medicine, solithromycin, and Taksta, a treatment for prosthetic-joint infections.

Both the antibiotics are aimed at infections that have developed resistance to antibiotics, a widespread and growing problem.

Cempra's timetable for both its leading drug candidates calls for filing for marketing approval with the Food and Drug Administration in 2015.

For the year, the company reported a net loss of $24.5 million, or $1.23 per share, compared to a net loss of $25 million, or $47.53 per share, in 2011.

Cempra went public in February 2011, netting $54.7 million after expenses. The company had $70.1 million in cash at the end of the year.