Dallas, Texas 03/19/2014 (FINANCIALSTRENDS) – Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RIGL), a clinical-stage drug development company, seems to be making all the moves right. This can be judged by both the company’s financial performance as well as the results of the ongoing clinical trials.
In the first week of March, Rigel announced that the Americal Journal of Physiology published recent results with the company’s R118 — orally-bioavailable AMPK activator. The publication shows strong evidence that R118 may be useful in treating PAD (peripheral artery disease). PAD is a chronic and progressive vascular disease which effects about 5 percent of the population over the age of 50.
Rigel Pharmaceuticals also said it has started the Phase-1 clinical trial with R118 as a “potential treatment” for a painful and debilitating outcome of PAD, known as ‘Intermittent Claudication (IC)’.
“There is considerable excitement about the potential for AMPK activation to restore both mobility and endurance to people suffering with the effects of poor blood circulation as a result of chronic vascular or metabolic diseases. The market potential for a new treatment in these indications is large,” said James M. Gower, chairman and chief executive officer of Rigel. “Rigel has been at the forefront of AMPK research and we are proud to be taking the R118 program forward into clinical studies.”
Also, Rigel Pharmaceuticals released its fourth quarter and full year of 2013 results. The company’s fourth-quarter loss narrowed down substantially. Rigel posted a net loss of $16.9 million, or $0.19 EPS, compared to a net loss of $25.5 million, or $0.30 per share, in the same period last year.
For the full year ended December 31, 2013, the company’s contract revenue was $7.2 million and a net loss of $89.0 million, or $1.02 per share, compared to contract revenue of $2.3 million and a net loss of $98.8 million, or $1.32 per share, in 2012.
As of December 31, the company had total $212.0 million in cash, cash equivalents and available-for-sale securities.