KEY POINTS:
The sale of forestry technology helped deliver a rare profit at biotechnology company Genesis - which now has two years worth of cash to burn.
Net profit for the full year ending December 31 was $3.3 million, compared with a $7.1 million loss the previous year.
The profit turnaround included revenue of $8.7 million from the sale of forestry technology to ArborGen.
Chief executive Stephen Hall said the company now had $9 million cash.
"Nominally it's about two years' cash burn but in fact you don't just sit there and do nothing for two years and we're actively looking at possibilities for collaborating and licensing existing projects that would bring in further revenue," Hall said.
The therapeutic development programmes were making good progress, he said.
A number of parties were interested in collaborating with the development of Zyrogen - with potential for treating osteoporosis and autoimmune disorders - and the cancer programme had identified some promising targets.
"Neither of our therapeutic projects is in the clinic yet but we're working hard to achieve that within the next year or so."
Projects can take years to reach the market after entering clinical trials but out-licensing during development can generate revenue.
In the past Genesis earned $27 million from the out-licensing of a psoriasis treatment drug called PVAC, which later failed in phase two trials, Hall said.
"That's typically how a small company does it," he said. "You lay off some of the risk and get some early cash returns long before the product actually gets to market."
A biofuels programme had been transferred to a joint venture with a Lake Taupo company called BioJoule.
Genesis shares were steady at 28c.
