FOSTER CITY, CA -- ( d) -- 03/11/15 -- SciClone Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCLN) today reported financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2014.

Revenues: In the fourth quarter 2014, SciClone reported revenues of $41.4 million, compared to $32.7 million for the same period in 2013. Revenues for the full year 2014 were $134.8 million, compared to $127.1 million for the full year of 2013. 

GAAP Diluted EPS: In the fourth quarter 2014, SciClone reported GAAP diluted earnings per share of $0.07, compared to $0.00 for the same period in 2013. GAAP diluted earnings per share for the full year 2014 were $0.48, compared to $0.20 for the full year of 2013. 

Non-GAAP Diluted EPS: In the fourth quarter 2014, SciClone reported non-GAAP diluted earnings per share of $0.29, compared to $0.07 for the same period in 2013. Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share for the full year 2014 were $0.75, compared to $0.42 for the full year of 2013. 

Internal Controls over Financial Reporting: Material weakness eliminated.

Revenues in the fourth quarter of 2014 were $41.4 million, an $8.7 million or 26.6% increase, compared to $32.7 million for the same period in 2013. For the year ended December 31, 2014, revenues were $134.8 million, compared to revenues of $127.1 million last year. ZADAXIN® revenues were $39.0 million in the fourth quarter of 2014, an $8.5 million or 27.9% increase, compared to $30.5 million for the same period in 2013. ZADAXIN revenues were $126.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2014, a $29.8 million or 30.9% increase, compared to $96.3 million last year. Promotion services revenues were $0.7 million for the fourth quarter of 2014, a $0.1 million or 15% decrease, compared to $0.8 million in the same period in 2013. Promotion services revenues were $2.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2014, compared to $27.6 million last year. SciClone's promotion services revenues for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2014 were negatively affected by the expiration of the promotion agreements with Sanofi Aventis S.A. ("Sanofi") when their terms ended on December 31, 2013.

On a GAAP basis, SciClone reported net income in the fourth quarter of 2014 of $3.5 million, or $0.07 per share on both a basic and diluted basis, compared to net income of approximately $36,000, or $0.00 per share on both a basic and diluted basis, for the same period in 2013. SciClone's net income for the year ended December 31, 2014 was $25.2 million, or $0.49 and $0.48 per share on a basic and diluted basis, respectively, compared with net income of $11.0 million, or $0.20 per share on both a basic and diluted basis, for 2013.

SciClone's non-GAAP net income in the fourth quarter of 2014 was $15.4 million, or $0.30 and $0.29 per share on a basic and diluted basis, respectively, compared with non-GAAP net income of $4.0 million, or $0.08 and $0.07 per share on a basic and diluted basis, respectively, for the same period of the prior year. SciClone's non-GAAP net income for the year ended December 31, 2014, was $39.7 million, or $0.77 and $0.75 per share on a basic and diluted basis, respectively, compared with non-GAAP net income of $23.2 million, or $0.43 and $0.42 per share on a basic and diluted basis, respectively, for last year.

Friedhelm Blobel, PhD, SciClone Chief Executive Officer, commented: "We are extremely pleased with the strong performance of our core business in the fourth quarter and full year. We have delivered on our growth objectives for the last five quarters in a row. ZADAXIN's strong growth underscores the continued demand in the market for our flagship product. We believe that we are well positioned for ZADAXIN growth in 2015 and the coming years. We are also pleased with several additional achievements in 2014, notably, the approval of DC Bead and its pending launch this year, and the establishment of a cardiovascular products partnership for China with The Medicines Company, adding two promising cardiovascular products to our portfolio -- Angiomax and Cleviprex. Both products offer synergies with our current cardiovascular portfolio, and our sales and marketing activities."

Continued Dr. Blobel: "For 2015, we anticipate continued growth of ZADAXIN sales, progress in our development pipeline, and continued pursuit of strategic opportunities to augment our portfolio with additional in-licensing and promotional transactions. As the China market continues to evolve, we believe that our sales acumen, the reputation of our sales organization, our market knowledge and our extensive compliance program will continue to be strong partnering assets. Our strong cash flow and cash balance, combined with operating efficiencies and well managed organizational growth, should continue to provide us with the resources to acquire potentially valuable assets that can continue to drive our growth and strengthen our position in the China pharma market."

"We believe that our internal financial controls are operating at a high level of quality, efficiency and senior management oversight, and that our company-wide commitment to compliance and zero-tolerance policy are important market differentiators and competitive advantages," said Wilson W. Cheung, SciClone Chief Financial Officer. "These attributes contributed significantly to our ability in 2014 to remediate the material weakness previously reported in 2012 and 2013. Compliance and maintaining strict internal financial controls will continue to be key corporate goals for 2015."

For the fourth quarter of 2014, sales and marketing (S&M) expenses were $13.5 million, compared with $13.3 million for the same period in 2013. For the year ended December 31, 2014, S&M expenses were $48.5 million, compared with $55.2 million last year. The reduction in S&M for the full year related to lower marketing costs for the promotion of Sanofi products due to the expiration of the Sanofi promotion agreements.

For the fourth quarter of 2014, research and development (R&D) expenses were $11.6 million, compared with $1.7 million of R&D expenses for the same period of 2013. R&D for the fourth quarter of 2014 included $11.0 million in upfront costs under our recent in-license arrangements, primarily with The Medicines Company for two cardiovascular products, Angiomax® (bivalirudin) and Cleviprex® (clevidipine). For the year ended December 31, 2014, R&D expenses were $14.6 million, compared with $8.0 million last year.

For the fourth quarter of 2014, general and administrative (G&A) expenses were $5.3 million, compared with $7.7 million for the same period in 2013, primarily related to lower legal costs associated with the ongoing government investigations and other legal matters and gains related to the recovery of accounts receivable that had been previously expensed as bad debt. For the year ended December 31, 2014, G&A expenses were $22.7 million, compared with $32.5 million last year.

During the fourth quarter of 2013, SciClone recorded $1.2 million in restructuring expenses related to the reduction in its sales force due to the non-renewal of its promotion agreements with Sanofi in 2013. SciClone believes the restructuring has enabled the Company to better focus resources on potential high-growth areas, including its cardiovascular franchise. Also during the fourth quarter of 2013, SciClone recorded a $2.0 million charge to reflect the Company's estimate of a probable loss incurred related to potential penalties, fines and/or other remedies in the ongoing investigations with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") and Department of Justice ("DOJ").

As of December 31, 2014, cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments totaled $86.3 million, compared to $85.9 million as of December 31, 2013. SciClone had a share repurchase program under which its Board of Directors had authorized $65.5 million, of which approximately $65.2 million had been utilized through December 31, 2014. In February 2015, the Board of Directors approved an additional $15 million for the share repurchase program for the remainder of 2015.

SciClone has presented non-GAAP information above as the Company believes this non-GAAP information is useful for investors, taken in conjunction with SciClone's GAAP financial statements, because management uses such information internally for its operating, budgeting and financial planning purposes. Non-GAAP information is not prepared under a comprehensive set of accounting rules and should only be used to supplement an understanding of SciClone's operating results as reported under GAAP. The non-GAAP calculations and reconciliation are provided in the accompanying table titled "Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP Net Income."

Outlook for 2015

SciClone projects its 2015 revenue to be in the range between $153 and $158 million, driven by ZADAXIN revenues; and its non-GAAP earnings per share to be in the range between $0.73 and $0.77.

Conference Call Today

SciClone is hosting a conference call today at 4:30 pm ET (1:30 pm PT) to provide a financial update. The call will be hosted by Friedhelm Blobel, Ph.D., President and CEO, and Wilson W. Cheung, Senior Vice President and CFO.

11 March 2015