Epix postpones results

Epix Pharmaceuticals Inc. said today that it will delay releasing financial results while it reviews past stock option grants.

Epix did not give any indication about when it plans to report the results, which had been scheduled to be released today.

In December the company created a special board committee to review stock option practices, in response to a media inquiry.

The inquiry included assertions related to the exercise of stock options during and prior to 2002 by a former Epix Pharmaceuticals chief executive who left in 2005.

More than 100 companies have either started internal reviews or are the subject of regulatory inquiries related to potential backdating of stock options, which could enrich the recipient by artificially inflating the value of an award. The practice is not necessary illegal, but has accounting implications that have caused some companies to restate past financial results. (AP)