Biopharmaceutical company Orexigen Therapeutics Inc (Nasdaq GS:OREX) stated on Tuesday that it recorded a net loss of USD24.5m (USD1.68 per share) for the year ended 31 December 2016.

This marks a rise in earnings when compared with a net loss of USD68.7m (USD5.24 per share) for 2015.

The company said the 2016 net loss benefitted from the above-mentioned non-cash gain related to deferred revenue, and other one-time events including a non-cash gain associated with the repurchase of convertible debt in December.

Revenues of USD33.7m were collected for the year ended 31 December 2016, an improvement of USD9.2m versus revenues of USD24.5m in 2015, primarily due to net sales being recorded by Orexigen in 2016, offset by a decrease in royalties and decrease in milestone amortization revenue resulting from its acquisition of Contrave.

In 2016, the annual prescription data indicated 691,279 total prescriptions for Contrave, up over 665,388 total prescriptions filled in 2015.