Media Coverage
Phase Forward Q2 Revenues Up, Loss Pegged at $6.2 Million
From CenterWatch Weekly - August 16th, 2004
Waltham, Mass.-based Phase Forward, the market-leading electronic data capture (EDC) company, whose closely watched initial public offering last month had mixed results, made its first quarterly report as a public company. Its first quarterly reports are also being watched with keen interest. The results were again mixed, but there is plenty of room for optimism. Second quarter revenues jumped 21% to $17.7 million, but the company reported a net loss of $6.2 million attributed to accretion of the company's preferred stock and a declared dividend.
Before a $6.6 million charge was taken, Phase Forward reported net income of $430,000, compared with a net loss of $922,000 for the second quarter of 2003. The net loss of $6.2 million amounted to $1.70 per share. Income from operations was $946,000 compared with a loss from operations of $1.1 million for the second quarter of 2003. For the first six months of 2004, total revenues rose 17% to $34.7 million, compared with $29.6 million for the same period last year.
License revenues, which represented 36% of Phase Forward's total revenues, rose $1.2 million to $6.4 million in the second quarter of 2004 from $5.2 million in the same quarter of 2003. Quarterly revenues, operating income and net income grew on a sequential basis as well as a year-over-year basis. John Schickling, senior vice president and chief financial officer, added, "We expect third quarter performance to reflect sequential growth in both revenue and earnings in the range of 4% to 5% and 8% to 10%, respectively."
"We are pleased with our performance this quarter, as our strategy to increase license revenues has continued to generate significant improvements to our gross margins," said Robert Weiler, chief executive officer and president. "Our increased investment in R&D continues to support the clinical trial initiatives of our global customer base. The recent signing by GlaxoSmithKline of a multi-year technology agreement for global standardization of its electronic data management collection with Phase Forward's InForm product reflects the increasing adoption of electronic data collection in the clinical trial process."
On July 15, the company raised $34.6 million in its initial public offering. Its shares closed up 23% at $9.35 on July 15. It has recently been trading below $8. Phase Forward plans to use the proceeds from its IPO for general corporate purposes and possible strategic acquisitions.
Last week, Phase Forward also announced that GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has signed a multi-year technology agreement to standardize its method of capturing clinical data using Phase Forward's InForm EDC application. GSK is already a customer of Phase Forward's Clintrial clinical data management application, but it will now deploy InForm. Phase Forward will also provide consulting and support services across GSK's phase I through IV clinical trials. "This electronic data management initiative promises to be an important tool in managing a larger number of trials while restraining costs," said Ted Chin, GSK's eDM project leader and vice president of biometrics and data sciences.
It has been a busy month for Phase Forward. In late July, the company also integrated its EDC application with ClinPhone's electronic trial management solution. ClinPhone, which bills itself as a clinical technology company, is a leader in interactive voice response systems. Procter & Gamble Pharmaceuticals and Kos Pharmaceuticals are using the integrated products.