New Brunswick, New Jersey
September 30, 2003
Senesco Technologies, Inc.
("Senesco" or the "Company") (AMEX:SNT) today reported financial
results for the 12 months ended June 30, 2003. Highlights of the
fiscal year and subsequent months include:
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The Company and its joint venture partner, Rahan
Meristem, Ltd., announced positive results from their banana
field trials. The trials indicated that Senesco's proprietary
technology dramatically extends the shelf-life of banana
fruit.
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Senesco announced that pre-clinical experiments
indicated that the Company's patent-pending Eukaryotic
Translation Initiation Factor 5A1 ("Factor 5A") gene may
regulate the inflammatory proteins known as cytokines. This
discovery may yield a new approach to inflammatory disease
research and treatment.
-
Senesco and its partner,
Harris Moran Seed Company,
reduced and delayed the browning in cut lettuce using
proprietary technology that slows the onset of cell death.
-
The Company received its first
U.S. patent
for DHS and Factor 5A, allowing the implementation of its
technology with partners and licensees while protecting its
intellectual property.
-
Pre-clinical studies revealed that inhibiting the
expression of Factor 5A has been shown to reduce apoptosis of
human lamina cribrosa cells in the optic nerve head of human
eyes. Apoptosis of the optic nerve is a critical factor
leading to blindness in glaucoma patients.
-
At the University of Colorado School of Medicine in
Denver, pre-clinical studies showed that Factor 5A was
correlated in ischemic heart tissue to two cytokines,
interleukin-1 beta and interleukin-18 ("IL-1" and "IL-18").
IL-1 is associated with a variety of inflammatory diseases and
IL-18 has been reported to cause apoptosis.
-
The Company signed a Development and License Agreement
with Cal/West Seeds,
which enabled Cal/West to incorporate Senesco's technology
into the enhanced proprietary alfalfa varieties being
developed by Cal/West.
-
Pre-clinical findings showed that Factor 5A killed human
cancer cells in experiments performed with cell lines derived
from tumors.
-
The Company signed a Development and Option Agreement
with ArborGen(TM), LLC, enabling ArborGen(TM) to incorporate
Senesco's technology into the enhanced forestry products being
developed by ArborGen.
"We took
several important steps over the past fiscal year toward our
goal of building an emerging functional genomics company,"
stated Bruce Galton, President and Chief Executive Officer of
Senesco. "We conducted several successful pre-clinical studies
that utilized our DHS and Factor 5A gene technology in mammalian
cell research, illustrating the technology's potential in
treating a variety of disease states. On the agricultural side,
we signed exclusive license and development agreements that have
already resulted in positive field trial results for
large-market crops such as lettuce and bananas. We continue to
pursue discussions with potential partners for use of our
technology in other agricultural crops."
Mr. Galton
continued, "Several key steps were taken over this past fiscal
year toward finalizing our letter of intent with the Tianjin
Academy of China. Discussions have been held with
representatives from the Academy, as well as government
representatives from the city of Tianjin and from a central
government department of
China.
We have also initiated discussions with biotechnology companies
based in China in an effort to secure the necessary financing
for the proposed agreement with the Academy and to commercialize
the seeds developed with our technology under the proposed
license or to pursue direct development with potential
commercial partners." Mr. Galton concluded, "The process will
take longer than we originally expected given the additional
parties involved; however, we are diligently and actively
engaged in discussions for the potential opportunity of
commercializing our technology in China."
Fiscal Year
2003 Results
The Company
reported a net loss of $2,066,338, or $0.17 per share, for the
fiscal year ending June 30, 2003. This compares with a net loss
of $1,939,419, or $0.20 per share, for the fiscal year ending
June 30, 2002. As of June 30, 2003, Senesco had cash, cash
equivalents and investment securities totaling approximately
$2.4 million, and working capital of approximately $2.2 million.
The Company
had revenues of $10,000 and $200,000 for the fiscal years ending
June 30, 2003 and 2002, respectively, which represented the
initial payments in connection with various license and
development agreements.
Total
operating expenses for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2003,
decreased to $2,278,606 from $2,314,233 in the prior year. The
decrease of $35,627, or 1.5%, was primarily the result of a
decrease in stock-based compensation, which was mostly offset by
an increase in general and administrative and research and
development expenses.
Research and
development expenses for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2003,
were $793,903, an increase of $423,712, or 114.5%, compared with
$370,191 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2002. The increase
is attributable to additional research and development costs
incurred in connection with expanded research undertaken by the
University of Waterloo, the implementation of mammalian cell
research programs and new plant research being conducted.
General and
administrative expenses for the fiscal year ending June 30,
2003, were $1,347,526, an increase of $38,670, or 3.0%, compared
with $1,308,856 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2002. The
increase is primarily the result of an increase in payroll,
benefits and investor relations, which was partially offset by a
decrease in consulting services, recruiting costs and legal
fees.
Senesco takes
its name from the scientific term for the aging of plant cells:
"senescence." The Company has developed technology that
regulates the onset of cell death. Delaying cell breakdown in
plants extends freshness after harvesting, while increasing crop
yields, plant size and resistance to environmental stress for
flowers, fruits and vegetables. The Company believes that its
technology can be used to develop superior strains of crops
without any modification other than delaying natural plant
senescence. Senesco has begun to explore ways to trigger or
delay cell death in mammals (apoptosis) to determine if the
technology is applicable in human medicine. Accelerating
apoptosis may have applications to the development of cancer
treatments. Delaying apoptosis may have applications to certain
diseases such as Alzheimer's, glaucoma, ischemia and arthritis,
among others. Senesco partners with leading-edge companies and
earns research and development fees for applying its
gene-regulating platform technology to enhance its partners'
products. Senesco is headquartered in New Brunswick, and
utilizes research laboratories at the University of Waterloo in
Ontario, Canada, and the University of Colorado in Denver,
Colorado. |