Vaccine development helps drive company's 25% revenue increase in 2003.

2004 APR 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- GenVec, Inc., (GNVC), announced financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2003.

For the year ended December 31, 2003, GenVec reported a net loss of $21.3 million or $0.65 per share compared to a net loss of $25.6 million or $1.17 per share for 2002. GenVec ended the year with $40 million in cash and investments.

Revenues for 2003 were $10.5 million, up 25% from $8.4 million in 2002 and were primarily attributable to the following:

1) Vaccine development activities from collaborations with the National Institutes of Health ($7.2 million) and the U.S. Naval Medical Research Center ($1.4 million) under which GenVec's proprietary adenovector technology is being used for the development and manufacture of clinical grade vaccine candidates against HIV, SARS, malaria, and dengue virus; and

2) Expanded research collaboration with FUSO Pharmaceutical Industries, Ltd., of Japan ($1.7 million) to identify a targeted cancer therapy product candidate designed to treat not only the primary tumor but also cancer that has spread, or metastasized, to distant sites in the body.

Operating expenses for 2003 decreased 6% to $31.9 million from $34.0 million in 2002. Included in 2003 operating expenses was a $1.2 million restructuring charge related to a reduction in workforce announced in April 2003. Research and development expenses decreased 4% to $23.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2003, from $24.4 million in the comparable prior-year period. General and administrative expenses decreased 25% to $7.2 million from $9.6 million in the prior year, exclusive of the restructuring charge.

For the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2003, the company reported a net loss of $5.2 million or $0.10 per share compared to a net loss of $5.4 million or $0.25 per share in the comparable prior-year period. Research and development expenses decreased 6% to $6.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2003 from $6.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2002. The fourth quarter of 2003 included one-time charges totaling $610,000 related to third-party manufacturing costs for TNFerade clinical materials for advanced stage clinical trials and license payments for access to technology. General and administrative expenses in the fourth quarter of 2003 decreased 33% from $2.4 ...