Dragon Reports 2003 Second Quarter Financial Results

News

Dragon Pharmaceutical Inc. (TSX: DDD; OTC BB: DRUG) today announced results for the three-month and six-month periods ending June 30 2003. During the quarter, the Company posted revenues of $1,007,686 from the sales of rHu Erythropoietin (EPO), which is currently marketed for use in the treatment of anemia related to chronic renal failure and for surgery patients in China, India, Egypt, Peru and Brazil.

For the 3-month ended June 30, 2003 Revenues of $576,894 were generated from sales in China and $430,792 from sales in other countries compared to $826,659 in China and $199,500 sales outside of China in 2002. The gross profit margin was 68% for the second quarter of 2003 compared to 83% for the same period in 2002 due to the fact that the Company decided to sell some products with short-term expiry dates at a reduced price.

Operating expenses for the quarter in 2003 were $0.93 million, down from $2.69 million from the same period in 2002, which included Research & Development expenses of $1.02 million, reflecting the results of our continued efforts to streamline our operations and tight control of expenses. Net loss for the quarter in 2003 was $236,424, or $0.01 per share, reduced from a loss of $1,824,867, or $0.09 per share, for the second quarter of 2002.

For the six-month ended June 30, 2003 For the six-month period, revenues in 2003 were $1.67 million down from $2.40 million for the same period in 2002. Operating expenses were reduced to $2.1 million for the first six months of 2003 from $4.8 million for the same period in 2002. Net loss for the first six months of 2003 was $0.97 million ($0.05 per share) reduced from a loss of $2.76 million ($0.14 per share) for the six months ended June 30, 2002.

“While the overall Chinese and international markets were affected by the outbreak of SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), our company achieved a 52% sequential growth in revenue from a modest first quarter of 2003 ($0.66 million in 2003 first quarter vs. $1.01 million in 2003 second quarter), with a 23% decrease of the operating expenses from the first quarter of 2003. As a result, our net loss has been reduced to $0.24 million in second quarter of 2003 ($0.01 per share) compared to $0.73 million in first quarter of 2003 ($0.04 per share).” said, Dr. Alexander Wick, President and CEO of Dragon Pharmaceutical Inc. “With the projected increase in revenues from both Chinese and International markets and our continued tight control over both the production costs and other operating expenses, we expect further improvement of our results for the remaining of 2003. We continue to work toward our stated objective of achieving a break-even in 2003.”