Surviving profitability

OXFORD - One of the hard surprises for biotech companies is the difficulty of the transition to profitability, as investors punish companies for slow sales ramps and for missing EPS numbers. PowderJect Pharmaceuticals plc (LSE:PJP) has unveiled two programs and a financing plan that Paul Drayson, the company's chairman and CEO, believes will enable him to manage an orderly transition to profitability.

In combination, a formulation deal with Ares-Serono Group that could deliver up to $100 million prior to commercialization, plans to internally develop PowderJect versions of existing vaccines, and a proposed £53.8 million ($87.8 million) rights issue are designed to sweep PJP into the black with an on-going stable of products and a balance sheet to match...