La Jolla losses

San Diego-based La Jolla Pharmaceutical has reported a net loss for the third quarter ended September 30, 2004 of $12.8m, or $0.21 per share, compared with a net loss of $6.9m, or $0.15 per share, for the third quarter of 2003.

The net loss for the nine months ended September 30, 2004 was $29.6m, or $0.50 per share, compared with a net loss of $30.4m, or $0.69 per share, for the same period in 2003.

Research and development expenses increased to $10.7m for the three months ended September 30, 2004 from $5.6m for the same period in 2003 primarily due to the purchase of a large amount of raw materials, which the company expects to use in the production of validation lots of Riquent in 2004. The company expects to use the validation lots in connection with the submission of the Marketing Authorisation Application in Europe, and for other purposes, including the company's ongoing clinical trial.

Research and development expenses decreased to $24.3m for the nine months ended September 30, 2004 from $26.0m for the same period in 2003 primarily due to decreases in costs incurred for clinical studies of Riquent, including the open-label follow-on clinical trial which was closed in April 2003 and the unblinding and analysis of the data from the Phase III trial of Riquent in the first quarter of 2003. These decreases were partially offset by the increase in expenses noted above during the third quarter. Cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments as of September 30, 2004 were $35.2m compared with $32.1m as of December 31, 2003.