Leiden-based biotech firm Crucell was back in the red in the second quarter of 2009 booking a net loss of €1.8m after several quarters in profit.

However this result was a ‘significant improvement’ on the €7.4m loss reported in the second quarter of last year, the company said in a statement on Tuesday. It was also considerably better than analysts had expected, according to press reports.
Crucell’s turnover in the second quarter was €72.4m compared to €56.2m a year earlier.
The growth in turnover was mainly due to the success of the company’s Quinvaxem vaccine against childhood sicknesses in developing countries.
However part of the sales of the vaccine have been postponed to the second half of 2009 and this had a negative impact on results for the first six months of the year, the company said.
Crucell has repeated its forecast for the full year, saying revenue and operating income is expected to grow 20% and operating profit is expected to ‘improve significantly’ compared to 2008.
Crucell CEO Ronald Brus: ‘We are very pleased to report positive operating profits for both the second quarter and the first half of the year. Our margins improved significantly versus last year, despite increased costs due to negative currency effects. We continue to be confident of our business prospects for the remainder of the year.’