NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – BG Medicine today reported a 41 percent decline year over year in its first quarter revenues.
For the three months ended March 31, the Waltham, Massachusetts-based firm said that revenues totaled $437,000, down from $739,000 in Q1 2014. BG Medicine said that the drop resulted from a decline in orders from its largest clinical laboratory customer.
Net loss for the recently completed quarter narrowed to $1.3 million, or $.04 per share, compared to a net loss of $2.2 million, or $.08 per share, in Q1 2014.
Its R&D spending was down 14 percent year over year to $483,000 from $560,000, while its SG&A costs were down 42 percent to $1.1 million from $1.9 million.
BG Medicine finished the quarter with $1.6 million in cash. Earlier this week, the firm said that it had reached financing deals for $2.5 million.
During the quarter, the company submitted a 510(k) application to the US Food and Drug Administration for a new indication for the clinical use of the BGM Galectin-3 test. The firm said in March that the filing incorporates data from a study in which galectin-3 levels were evaluated in 6,762 participants. The study assessed the association of elevated levels of the protein with adverse cardiovascular events in men and women with no prior history of cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, or vascular disease.
In December, the company said that it received clearance from the FDA for its Architect assay for the automated testing of galectin-3, and said today that it has amended its licensing agreement with Abbott Laboratories in anticipation of the test's US launch.
"As Abbott takes the final steps toward making the assay available in theUS, BG Medicine and Abbott amended the agreement due to market dynamic considerations since the galectin-3 assay first began development in 2009," BG Medicine said.
The firm is not disclosing the terms of the amendment, but on a conference call after the release of its financial results, BG Medicine President and CEO Paul Sohmer said that the product fee pricing has been changed "to provide an attractive return" to his company that "reflects the investment that we have made to date in the development" of the test. "We also believe that it provides an attractive incentive to Abbott to drive sales going forward."
Moving ahead, BG Medicine said that it anticipates a reversal of the sequential decline in revenues that the firm has seen during the past three years. It cited a stabilization in orders from the company's largest clinical lab customer, as well as a modest growth in sales from the majority of its clinical lab customers. The company also said that sales related to independent research studies are anticipated to grow modestly, while the commercialization of the automated galectin-3 test is expected to contribute to the top line.