Princeton, New Jersey, April 12 (Bloomberg Data) -- ViroPharma Inc.
(VPHM US) was downgraded to ``buy'' from ``strong buy'' by analyst Mark E.
Augustine at U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray. For the quarter ended March 31, 2000, ViroPharma reported a net loss of
$6.8 million compared to a net loss of $5.7 million for the same period in
1999. Net loss for the quarter ended March 31, 2000 was adjusted to reflect
preferred stock dividends to arrive at net loss allocable to common
stockholders. Net loss per share allocable to common stockholders for the
quarter ended March 31, 2000 was $0.46 per share, basic and diluted. Without
giving effect to the preferred stock dividends, net loss per share for the
quarter ended March 31, 2000 was $0.45 per share, basic and diluted, compared
to $0.49 per share, basic and diluted, for the same period in 1999. In the
quarter ended March 31, 2000, the company earned license fee and milestone
revenue of $1.3 million in connection with the hepatitis C collaboration with
Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories. The Company did not earn any revenue in the
quarter ended March 31, 1999.