Oncothyreon Plunges 40% on Earnings, Date of Final Stimuvax Results

Currently, shares of Oncothyreon

are seeing much pressure after the company reported fourth quarter results which did not live up to analysts' expectations. Net loss from operations for the year ended December 31, 2011 was $24.7 million, compared with $19.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2010. The increase in net loss from operations resulted from an increase in research and development expenses to $17.9 million from $11.6 million, offset by a decrease in general and administrative expenses to $6.9 million from $7.9 million. On a different note, Oncothyreon expects expenses in 2012 are expected to be higher when compared to 2011, primarily as a result of the more advanced clinical development of PX-866 and the Phase 1 clinical trial of ONT-10. Oncothyreon currently expects cash used in operations in 2012 to be between approximately $30.0 and approximately $33.0 million. As a result, Oncothyreon estimates that its existing cash, cash-equivalents and investments will be sufficient to fund operations for at least the next 12 months. Also, Merck Serono, a division of Merck KGaA of Darmstadt, Germany, informed Oncothyreon that the Independent Data Monitoring Committee for the Phase 3 START trial of Stimuvax in non-small cell lung cancer met and the DMC recommendation is to continue the study. However, final results from the study are not expected until 2013. Currently, shares of Oncothyreon are trading down about 36% at $5.36 per share.