Keryx Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. Announces First Quarter 2008 Financi...( Keryx to Host Investor Conference C...)

Keryx to Host Investor Conference Call on Monday, May 12, 2008 at 8:30am

EDT

NEW YORK, May 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Keryx Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: KERX), a biopharmaceutical company focused on the acquisition, development and commercialization of medically important, novel pharmaceutical products for the treatment of life-threatening diseases, including renal disease and cancer, today announced its results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2008.

At March 31, 2008, the Company had cash, cash equivalents, investment securities, interest receivable and license receivable of $47.6 million, as compared to $64.7 million at December 31, 2007. In April 2008, we received a payment of $8.0 million that was classified as a license receivable at March 31, 2008. The payment was made pursuant to the September 2007 licensing agreement among Keryx, Japan Tobacco Inc. and Torii Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.

The net loss for the first quarter ended March 31, 2008 was $34,536,000, or $0.79 per share, compared to a net loss of $21,813,000, or $0.50 per share, for the first quarter in 2007, representing an increase in net loss of $12,723,000. The increase in net loss was primarily attributable to costs associated with the cessation of our development of Sulonex. Such costs included an $11,037,000 non-cash impairment charge related to the write-down of the assets of the Sulonex manufacturing suite to their estimated fair value, and a $2,063,000 provision for estimated costs relating to the required restoration of the manufacturing facility to its original condition, partially offset by a decrease of $2,264,000 in non-cash compensation expense, primarily related to stock options and restricted
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