NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – ACT Genomics and Philippines-based Allegiant Regional Care (ARC) Hospital said this week that they are collaborating to offer genomic testing services in Cebu, the Philippines. As part of the collaboration, ARC will offer ACTG genomic tests to patients in the hospitals that it operates in, with the aim of understanding the mutational profile of cancer patients' tumor cells and providing them with genomic information-guided personalized treatment plans.
The Nasdaq Stock Market announced this week that it will delist the ordinary shares of Rosetta Genomics. Rosetta's stock was suspended on May 22, and has not traded on the Nasdaq since then. The company was forced to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in June after disclosing that its planned merger with Genoptix was in trouble.
Late last year, Genoptix agreed to acquire Rosetta for $10 million in cash, but that deal failed to garner enough support from Rosetta shareholders. The companies later signed another merger agreement that valued Rosetta at $9 million and was ultimately approved by Rosetta's investors. While the transaction was slated to close on May 27, Rosetta said on May 30 that Genoptix had "refused to provide assurances that it intends to complete the transaction" due to an undisclosed "material adverse effect" affecting Rosetta, as well as breaches of representations and warranties.
Abbott’s board of directors this week announced a quarterly dividend of $.28 per share, payable on Aug. 15 to shareholders of record on July 13.
UKCloud Health said this week that it has joined the Global Alliance for Genomics and Health (GA4GH). UKCloud Health and its more than 30 specialist healthcare tech partners will aim to help accelerate innovation and enhance collaboration with and between GA4GH members using UKCloud Health's secure, UK sovereign, multi-cloud platform, the firm said.
UK diagnostics company Omega Diagnostics said this week that it has appointed three new dedicated distributors in Ghana, Zambia, and Zimbabwe for its point-of-care HIV test called CD4, and has started the process to get product registration for the test. The firm did not name the distributors. Omega previously named a distributor in Nigeria.
Akers Biosciences reported this week that its first quarter revenues dropped 55 percent year over year, as lower yields in the process of extracting antigens for its flagship test product led to lower production levels and backorders. Akers develops rapid screening and testing products.
For the three months ended March 31, total revenues declined to $302,475 from $667,250 in Q1 2017. Revenues for Akers' lead product, the Particle ImmunoFiltration Assay, decreased 54 percent year over year to $259,983 from $560,921. Also, revenues for the firm's MicroParticle Catalyzed Biosensor business dropped 78 percent to $18,950 from $85,659, while its Rapid Enzymatic Assay revenues were $9,900 for Q1 2018 compared to none in the year-ago period. Other revenues dropped 34 percent to $13,642 from $20,670.
For the quarter, Akers' net loss attributable to shareholders widened to $1.9 million compared to $1.3 million a year ago. The company did not provide a per-share loss figure.
Its R&D spending for Q1 grew 26 percent to $439,970 from $348,442, while its SG&A costs were essentially flat at $1.4 million.
As of March 31, Akers had $9.3 million in cash and marketable securities.
Trinity's point-of-care revenues were $4 million in Q2, down 8 percent from $4.4 million in the prior-year quarter. The firm attributed the dip in point-of-care revenues to lower HIV product sales in the US — due to continued lower federal government spending — and in Africa.
The firm reported profit after tax and non-cash items of $594,000, or diluted earnings per ADR of $.07, compared to $902,000, or diluted earnings per ADR of $.07, in Q2 2017. The weighted average number of ADRs used in computing diluted earnings per ADR in Q2 was about 26.2 million compared to 27.1 million in Q2 2017.
The firm said that its R&D expenses increased to $1.4 million in Q2 2017, up 8 percent year over year from $1.3 million. And its SG&A expenses dropped $7.4 million, down 3 percent year over year from $7.6 million.
Trinity had $49.4 million in cash and cash equivalents at the end of Q2.
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