NEW YORK, Feb 20 - Third Wave Technologies, a manufacturer of SNP assay detection systems, reported fourth quarter 2000 revenues of $6.5 million, compared to $400,000 during the same period in 1999, the company said Tuesday.
The dramatic increase in revenues stemmed primarily from sales of Third Wave's Invader operating system, which detects specific RNA and DNA sequences for use disease association studies and other applications. In 2000, the company had revenues of $10.9 million from sales of these systems, up from $500,000 in 1999.
Operating expenses jumped to $12.6 million from $4.9 million in the same period in 1999, with the cost of goods sold accounting for the majority of the increase.
For the fourth quarter 2000, net losses increased to $5.7 million from $4.1 million in the fourth quarter of 1999, corresponding to an increase to 37 cents per share from 28 cents per share in 1999.
During the year, Third Wave entered into agreements with Applera Corporation to provide 150,000 Invader assays to the Japanese government, and with Novartis Pharmaceuticals to develop an Invader assay for disease association studies using SNPs identified by the SNP Consortium.
The company also supplies several academic and public research institutions with its Invader technology, including the Wellcome Trust and the Univeristy of Wisconsin, in exchange for rights to commercialize certain resulting discoveries.
Third Wave launched an initial public offering Feb 9, with a selling price on the Nasdaq of $11 a share.