NEW YORK – Adaptive Biotechnologies reported on Wednesday after the close of the market that its third quarter revenues rose 50 percent year over year, driven by a steep increase in sequencing revenues.
For the three months ended Sept. 30, Adaptive recorded $39.5 million in revenues compared to $26.3 million during the year-ago period, beating the consensus Wall Street analyst estimate of $36.6 million.
The firm's sequencing revenues nearly doubled to $22.1 million from $11.3 million in the prior-year period, while development revenues rose 16 percent to $17.4 million from $15.0 million in Q3 2020.
Research sequencing volume for the quarter was 8,710 samples, up 33 percent from 6,541 samples delivered in the third quarter of 2020. Clinical sequencing volume, excluding the company's T-Detect COVID test, increased 47 percent to 5,928 clinical tests delivered during the quarter, up from 4,023 clinical tests delivered during the same period of 2020.
In a statement, Adaptive CEO and cofounder Chad Robins said that the firm made notable progress during the quarter in advancing its immune medicine platform as a "clinical product development engine."
Among recent highlights, the firm cited a 47 percent increase in its Q3 ClonoSeq clinical sequencing volume compared to the same quarter last year. The company recently launched an enhanced version of the ClonoSeq assay for chronic lymphocytic leukemia patients, which provides added readout of IGHV mutation status alongside minimal residual disease tracking.
During a call with investors, Robins said that this is an important step for the company, which makes ClonoSeq an "even more valuable diagnostic for hematologists at the start of patient workups."
He also highlighted the company's progress in T cell COVID-19 testing, including a positive assessment from Medicare contractor MolDx recommending coverage for the firm's T-Detect COVID for immunocompromised patients.
"This is a further validation that T-cell testing fills an important gap in understanding the immune response to the virus," Robins said.
Adaptive's net loss for the quarter totaled $56 million, or $.40 per share, compared to $36.7 million, or $.27 per share, in Q3 2020, beating the consensus analyst estimate of a $.42 loss per share. The number of weighted average shares used in computing net loss was approximately 140.8 million in Q3 compared to 134.4 million in Q3 of 2020.
The firm's R&D expenses rose 19 percent to $36.1 million from $30.3 million in the year-ago quarter. Adaptive's SG&A expenses were $45.1 million, up nearly 70 percent from $26.6 million a year ago.
As of Sept. 30, Adaptive had $122.4 million in cash and cash equivalents, and $292.6 million in short-term marketable securities.
In Thursday morning trade on the Nasdaq, Adaptive's shares were up almost 3 percent at $36.01.