The Boston-based contract research organization (CRO) Averion International reported a net operating loss of $577,253 for the second quarter of 2007 on total revenues of $9.81 million. That compared to a loss of $912,140 during the same period last year from just $4.92 million in revenue. For the first half of the year – ending June 30th of 2007 – Averion reported $19.1 million in revenue and a net loss of $2.47 million compared with $9.88 million in revenue and a net loss of $1.94 million during the same period in 2006.

The drop in profit margin was due to the company’s operation expenses nearly doubling this year, from $11.8 million in 2006 to $21.5 million in 2007. The increase in costs was stated to be due to the reverse merger of Averion with holding company IT&E International last year and “expenses associated with supporting a larger organization.”

Averion’s chief executive officer Philip Lavin stated: “Our backlog continues to increase with $27.5 million in gross new business awards for the first half of 2007, primarily in our targeted oncology and medical device sectors. We also continue to gain additional operational efficiencies through consolidation of our organization and are pleased with our progress toward our goal of achieving sustainable profitability.”