Cortex reports net income of $832,000 for fourth quarter 2011

Cortex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (OTCBB: CORX) reported net income of approximately $832,000, or $0.01 per share, for the quarter ended December 31, 2011, compared with a net loss of approximately $984,000, or $0.01 per share, for the corresponding prior year quarter.

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2011, the Company reported a net loss of approximately $2,255,000, or $0.03 per share, compared with net income of approximately $1,629,000, or $0.02 per share for the corresponding prior year period.

Revenues for the quarter ended December 31, 2011 include $2,000,000 received from Servier upon exercise of its option to acquire sole ownership of the patent rights to the jointly discovered AMPAKINE® CX1632. As previously announced, in June 2011 Servier provided Cortex with a nonrefundable $1,000,000 payment in exchange for an option to expand its rights to the compound.

Operating expenses for the quarter ended December 31, 2011 decreased to approximately $1,169,000 from approximately $1,267,000 for the corresponding prior year period, due mostly to decreased personnel and consulting costs, partially offset by sublicense fees to the University of California triggered by Servier's option exercise.

For the year ended December 31, 2010, revenues include $10,000,000 from the Company's March 2010 transaction with Biovail. Operating expenses for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2011 decreased to approximately $5,376,000 from approximately $8,292,000 for the prior year, with the decrease mostly due to sublicense fees and administrative expenses during the prior year related to the Biovail transaction.

Interest expense of $553,000 for the year ended December 31, 2010 includes non-cash charges related to the June 2010 conversion of the promissory note issued to Samyang Optics Co., Ltd. ("Samyang") of Korea. As reported earlier, the convertible note was issued in connection with the Company's $1,500,000 private placement to Samyang in January 2010.

In October 2011, Cortex announced a private placement of $500,000 with Samyang Value Partners, Co., Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Samyang. The private placement included the issuance of unregistered shares of the Company's common stock and warrants to purchase additional unregistered shares of its common stock. The purchase price for the shares was computed based upon a weighted average of the closing prices of the Company's common stock for the five trading days prior to signing the definitive agreement.

More recently, the Company announced the issuance by the United States Patent and Trademark Office of two key patents that protect the next generation of AMPAKINE compounds, and in particular the Company's focus on breathing-related disorders. The USPTO issued both a composition-of-matter patent and a divisional patent covering methods of use, including the treatment of opioid-induced respiratory depression. These issued patents will provide protection from competitors through August 2028.

Source Cortex Pharmaceuticals, Inc.