Revenues for the period totaled $7.1 million, down from $15.3 million during the same quarter in 2004. Third wave attributed this shortfall to a lack of research revenue, a delay by one of its suppliers, and "performance issues" with an instrument from Roche that is required for Third Wave's HCV genotyping analyte-specific reagents.
"As expected, our research revenue will continue to be lower than it has been historically," CEO John Puisis said in a company statement. "We believe the temporary delays that impacted our molecular diagnostic revenue in the first quarter have been remedied."
Research and development costs stayed flat at $2.5 million compared to $2.7 million during last year's first quarter.
Third Wave recorded a net loss of $4.4 million, or $.11 per share, compared to net earnings of $2.8 million, or $.07 per share, during the same quarter last year.
As of March 31, Third Wave had $64.5 million in cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments.