NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J., Feb. 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Senesco Technologies, Inc. ('Senesco' or the 'Company') (NYSE Alternext US: SNT) today reported financial results for the three months ended December 31, 2008.

Net loss for the three month period ended December 31, 2008 was $1,624,341, or $0.09 per share, compared with a net loss of $1,049,838 or $0.06 per share, for the three month period ended December 31, 2007. This increase in net loss was primarily the result of an increase in non-cash expenses associated with the outstanding convertible notes that were issued during the year ended June 30, 2008, and an increase in operating expenses.

Quarterly and Recent Highlights

• Senesco announced results of maximum tolerated dose, preclinical toxicology, and efficacy / dose-range finding studies in mice for SNS-01, the Company's multiple myeloma drug candidate.
• Senesco's data was presented at the 2008 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology in a presentation entitled 'Preclinical Studies Using Polyethylenimine (PEI) Nanoparticles Complexed with Eukaryotic Translation Initiation Factor 5A (eIF5A) siRNA and eIF5A Plasmid DNA Demonstrates Significant Anti-Myeloma Activity in Vitro and in Vivo'.
• Senesco's preclinical multiple myeloma data was presented at the 20th EORTC-NCI-AACR Symposium on 'Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics'.
• Senesco appointed Harlan W. Waksal, M.D., co-founder of ImClone Systems Incorporated, to the Company's Board of Directors. Dr. Waksal was instrumental in moving forward the clinical development program for ERBITUX(R) (cetuximab), an oncology drug now approved in colorectal and head & neck cancers.
• Management delivered the Company's corporate presentation at the 10th Annual Rodman & Renshaw Healthcare Conference, and the 11th Annual BIO CEO & Investor Conference.

'We remain focused on our goal of filing an Investigational New Drug Application for SNS-01 before the end of calendar year 2009,' said Bruce Galton, President and CEO of Senesco. 'The recently announced results of the maximum tolerated dose, preclinical toxicology, and efficacy / dose range finding studies for SNS-01 was an important step toward accomplishing this goal.'

The Company did not record any revenue for the three month period ended December 31, 2008. Total revenues of $6,250 for the three month period ended December 31, 2007 consisted of the amortized portion of previous milestone payments received in connection with certain agricultural license agreements.

Research and development expenses during the three month period ended December 31, 2008 were $579,286, compared with $392,254 during the three month period ended December 31, 2007, an increase of 47.7%. This increase was primarily a result of an expansion of Senesco's human health programs, specifically the Company's multiple myeloma research program, which was partially offset by a decrease in agricultural research expenses as a result of a decrease in the allocation of resources from agriculture to human health at the University of Waterloo.

General and administrative expenses were $649,056 for the three month period ended December 31, 2008, compared with $585,851 during the three month period ended December 31, 2007, an increase of 10.8%.