NEW YORK, Feb. 12 - Epoch Biosciences on Tuesday reported a surge in total revenues for the fourth quarter 2001 and a narrowed loss as strong sales outpaced a slight jump in operating costs.
For the period ended Dec. 31, the genomics tool company reported total revenue of $2.2 million compared with $945,000 one year ago, driven by a jump in license fees and royalties to $722,000 from $30,000 year over year.
Product sales also helped nudge the top line as the company sold $946,000 of its Eclipse PCR tools and its DNAnchor microarrays compared with $665,000 the firm earned in sales in the same period one year ago.
Revenue from contract research also grew in the quarter, to $585,000 from $250,000 one year ago, thanks in part to a research collaboration and part of a SBIR grant awarded to the company in 2001.
Leading a modest increase in total operating expenses, R&D spending inched up to $1.4 million from $1.1 million in the year-ago period, though net loss still managed to fall to $934,000, or $.04 per share, from $1.4 million, or $.05 per share, recorded in the same period last year.
Shares in the Bothell, Wash.-based were off $.01, or about half a percent, to $1.94 in mid-morning Nasdaq trade.