Danish biopharmaceutical company Zealand Pharma reported a loss in the first quarter of 2013 due to growing expenses and a lack of milestone payments from its partners.
_0">The group reported a net loss of 57.3 million Danish crowns ($9.98 million), down from a profit of 65.7 million in the same quarter last year.
The company received large milestone payments last year under the license agreements with French drugmaker Sanofi and Switzerland-based Helsinn Healthcare.
None were received in the first quarter of this year so the company had no revenue, it said. Net operating expenses rose to 57.9 million crowns from 39.4 million.
The company's most advanced drug, Lyxumia, also known by its generic name lixisenatide, is being developed with Sanofi for Type-2 diabetes.
The company reiterated its 2013 guidance for net operating expenses in 2013 in a range of 210 million to 240 million crowns. ($1 = 5.7432 Danish crowns) (Reporting by Mette Fraende; Editing by Tom Pfeiffer)