Losses are up and revenues are down, Durham drug firm Chimerix (Nasdaq: CMRX) reported early Monday in its first financial report as a public company.
However, investors didn’t punish the stock.
Shares rallied 4 percent at the open and remained up nearly 3.5 percent at $20.75, or 70 cents, in late-morning trading.
Chimerix went public last month.
The company said it is “in discussions” with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) for a renewal of the contract that produces its revenue. It’s the development of CMX001 as a “countermeasure” to smallpox.
“The decrease in revenue for the first quarter of 2013 compared to the prior year period is a reflection of Chimerix nearing completion of the base segment of the BARDA contract,” Chimerix said.
Revenues dropped to $1.8 million from $3.1 million for the same quarter a year ago.
Operating expenses did decrease to $8.3 million from $8.6 million, but interest expenses rose to $400,000 from $10,000 in the weeks ahead of the IPO.
Chimerix plans to use the proceeds from the IPO to advance its drug portfolio in clinical trials.
