UPDATE 1-Labopharm loss narrows despite revenue drop

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TORONTO, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Labopharm Inc (DDS.TO) reported a smaller second-quarter loss on Friday despite a slip in revenue as it neared preparation of a new drug application for its anti-depression treatment.

The small Canadian biotechnology company said it lost C$10.1 million ($9.4 million), or 18 Canadian cents a share, for the quarter ended June 30, compared with a loss of C$11 million, or 19 cents a share, for the same period last year.

Revenue for the quarter was C$4.9 million, down from C$5.9 million for last year's quarter, hurt by a decrease in licensing revenue from Purdue Pharma related to its once-daily tramadol pain-relief formula.

Licensing revenue, which includes a portion of payments received from its licensing and distribution partners for Labopharm's version of tramadol, was C$1.1 million, down from C$1.7 million for the same quarter last year.

Research and development expenses were C$6.3 million, up from C$5.7 million.

Expenses typically mount for biotech companies as they advance further into trials before receiving regulatory approval.

The company said it was in the final stages of preparing a new drug application for an antidepressant that it hopes to submit to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration some time in the third quarter.

It is still waiting for a decision from the FDA on its once-daily version of the tramadol formula. The agency said last month it planned to make a decision by Jan. 2, 2009. ($1=$1.06 Canadian) (Reporting by Scott Anderson; Editing by Peter Galloway)