Heidelberg Pharma AG

Earnings Release • Jul 12, 2007

News Details

Corporate | 12 July 2007 08:37

WILEX HY1 2007: projects in line with expectations –improved financial outlook

WILEX AG / Half Year Results/Forecast

Release of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a company of EquityStory
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The issuer / publisher is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

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WILEX HY1 2007: projects in line with expectations –improved financial
outlook

Munich, 12 July 2007. The Munich-based biopharmaceutical company WILEX AG
(ISIN DE0006614720/Frankfurt Stock Exchange/Prime Standard) today published
its results and report for HY1 2007 (1 December 2006 – 31 May 2007).

The results are in line with the Company's expectations. All research and
development projects are proceeding according to plan. By optimising its
cost structure, the Company expects expenditure to be around 12 % under
budget, thereby improving the Company's financial outlook. WILEX
anticipates that current liquid funds will probably reach until the first
quarter of 2009 which is beyond the previously published forecast of the
second half of 2008.

 Operating expenses in the first half of 2007 totalled EUR 12.82
million (HY1 2006: EUR 7.86 million; an increase of 63%). This increase
resulted mainly from higher research and development costs, which as
expected were up from EUR 6.22 million in the previous year to EUR 10.82
million in HY1 2007 (an increase of 74.1%). This development results from
the progress realised in the Phase III ARISER trial with a growing number
of patients and trial centres. Research and development costs as a
percentage of total expenditure increased from 79.1 % in HY1 2006 to 84.4 %
in HY1 2007.

 Other operating income amounted to EUR 1.22 million in the first
half of 2007, up 96.2% on the same period of the previous year (EUR 0.62
million). This was due to payments made by partners in line with progress
on the projects.

 There was a strong improvement in the financial result. Compared
with the previous year (EUR -1.20 million), WILEX posted a net financial
result of EUR 0.90 for the first half of 2007. The rise of more than EUR 2
million is attributable to the generation of interest income from
fixed-term deposits as well as a considerable reduction in WILEX's
financial expenditure.

 In line with expectations, WILEX closed HY1 2007 with a result
before tax of EUR -10.7 million (previous year: EUR -8.44 million; an
increase of 26.8%). Of this, EUR -5.78 million was from Q2 2007 (Q1 2007:
EUR -4.93 million).

On the strength of higher than anticipated patient randomisation in trial
centres with lower costs and optimisation of the production programme for
RENCAREX® consistency lots, WILEX is in a position to revise its guidance
for 2007. Assuming that the research and development projects continue to
proceed according to plan, WILEX anticipates operating expenses of between
EUR 26 million and EUR 30 million (previous year: EUR 19.9 million). This
represents a reduction in costs of approximately EUR 4 million compared to
the previous forecast. Around 85% (previous year: 79 %) of operating
expenses are expected to be attributable to research and development.
Operating income is set to total between approximately EUR 2.5 million and
EUR 2.8 million (previous year: EUR 1.7 million) for the year as a whole.
Accordingly, the requirement for financial resources will amount to between
EUR 24 million and EUR 28 million in 2007. WILEX therefore revised its
guidance for its funding requirement. WILEX anticipate that current liquid
funds will probably reach until the first quarter of 2009 which is beyond
the previously published forecast of the second half of 2008.

In the second quarter the Company continued to develop its late stage
multi-product portfolio of drug and medical product candidates according to
plan. The key events were:

 Patient recruitment in the Phase III ARISER trial again advanced
significantly. To date over 560 of 856 patients planned have been enrolled.

 WILEX has also progressed in the preparation for the registration
trial of CA9-SCAN. On the recommendation of the Food & Drug Administration
(FDA), the Company will apply for a special protocol assessment (SPA),
which can significantly reduce development time. In the second quarter,
WILEX prepared a revised trial protocol and drafted the Imaging Charter
which describes the evaluation procedure to be carried out by independent
experts.

 As scheduled, patient recruitment started for the clinical Phase
II trial with WX-671 in patients with locally advanced, inoperable and
non-metastatic pancreatic cancer.

'We have made significant progress with our projects according to plan. Our
liquidity status has improved substantially through the optimisation of key
cost areas such as the production of RENCAREX®,' commented Peter
Llewellyn-Davies, CFO of WILEX AG. He continued: 'We are pleased that we
are in a position to improve our financial situation, but will continue to
focus our attention on the commercialisation of our products and plan to
generate additional inflows of capital in the coming years.'

The interim report was published on the Company's website: www.wilex.com.

About WILEX
WILEX is a biopharmaceutical Company based in Munich founded in 1997 by a
team of physicians and oncologists from the Technical University of Munich.
WILEX is focused on the development of new cancer therapies based on
antibodies and small molecules. The therapeutic approach of WILEX targets
the prevention of growth, spread and the metastasis of malignant tumours
and the destruction of malignant tumours in the body. The late stage
multi-product portfolio includes both drug and medicinal product candidates
as well as research candidates. Currently the following compounds are in
clinical development: WX-G250 (development name: RENCAREX®), WX-671, WX-UK1
and CA9-SCAN. The company’s strategy is to develop WILEX into a
commercially successful biopharmaceutical company with a broad portfolio of
new drugs and medical products for the treatment of cancer. WILEX AG has
been listed in the Official Market Segment (Amtlicher Markt) / Prime
Standard of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange since 13 November 2006.
ISIN DE0006614720
WKN 661472
Symbol WL6

Overview of earnings key figures:
P&L earnings key figures in EUR '000 HY1 2007 HY1 2006 Change in %
Other operating income 1,218 621 96.2
Operating expenses (12,819) (7,859) 63.1
of which research and development (10,822) (6,216) 74.1
Operating result (11,601) (7,238) 60.3
Result before tax (10,700) (8,437) 26.8
Net loss for the period (10,707) (8,439) 26.9
Earnings per share in EUR (0.90) (1.09)
Liquid funds 46,222 18,274
Equity ratio 75.1% 22.7%

This communication contains certain forward-looking statements, relating to
the Company's business, which can be identified by the use of
forward-looking terminology such as 'estimates', 'believes', 'expects',
'may', 'will' 'should' 'future', 'potential' or similar expressions or by
general discussion of strategy, plans or intentions of the Company. Such
forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties
and other factors, which may cause our actual results of operations,
financial condition, performance, or achievements, or industry results, to
be materially different from any future results, performance or
achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Given
these uncertainties, prospective investors and partners are cautioned not
to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. We disclaim any
obligation to update any such forward-looking statements to reflect future
events or developments.
Given these uncertainties, prospective investors and partners are cautioned
not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. We disclaim
any obligation to update any such forward-looking statements to reflect
future events or developments.
DGAP 12.07.2007

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Language: English
Issuer: WILEX AG
Grillparzerstr. 10
81675 München Deutschland
Phone: +49 (0)89 41 31 38 - 0
Fax: +49 (0)89 41 31 38 - 99
E-mail: info@wilex.com
Internet: www.wilex.com
ISIN: DE0006614720
WKN: 661472
Indices:
Listed: Amtlicher Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Freiverkehr in
Berlin-Bremen, Düsseldorf, München, Stuttgart

End of News DGAP News-Service

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