OncoGenex Reports First Quarter Financi...( Conference Call on Thursday May 7 200...)

Conference Call on Thursday, May 7, 2009 at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time

BOTHELL, WA, and VANCOUVER, May 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ("OncoGenex" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: OGXI) today reported unaudited financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2009 and reviewed the Company's highlights for the first quarter of 2009.

The following consolidated results reflect the operations of OncoGenex Technologies Inc. ("OncoGenex Technologies") prior to the August 21, 2008 reverse takeover of Sonus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ("Sonus"), and the consolidated results of OncoGenex thereafter.

The loss attributable to common shareholders for the first quarter ended March 31, 2009 was $2.4 million which was consistent with the loss of $2.4 million in the corresponding period of 2008.

Research and development expenses for the first quarter ended March 31, 2009 were $1.7 million, compared to $0.9 million in the corresponding period of 2008. The increases in 2009 were primarily due to manufacturing costs incurred in the first quarter of 2009 associated with the development of our product candidate OGX-427, an increase in employee expenses and higher facility costs resulting from the reverse takeover of Sonus. Reducing the expenses in the first quarter of 2008 was a Scientific Research and Development (SRED) claim, which offset R&D expenses in that period. The SRED program is a Canadian federal tax incentive program that encourages Canadian businesses to conduct research and development in Canada. As OncoGenex Technologies became an affiliate of a public company as a result of the reverse takeover, SRED claims can now only be applied against taxes payable.

General and administrative expenses for the first quarter ended March 31, 2009 were $0.8 million, compared to $0.6 million in the corresponding perio
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