NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Bio-Reference Laboratories today announced that its second quarter revenues grew 11 percent year over year.
For the three months ended April 30, the firm posted revenues of $224 million, up from $201.4 million in Q2 2014. Revenues per patient rose 3 percent year over year to $86.69 from $84.18, the company said, while the number of patients served increased 8 percent to 2,559 from 2,364 in Q2 2014.
Esoteric business comprised 68 percent of revenues for the recently completed quarter, the same as a year ago.
Bio-Reference CEO Marc Grodman said in a statement that a goal during the quarter was to grow its sequencing business, and in Q2 Bio-Reference received 23,000 tests from its GeneDx business, a 54 percent increase.
Grodman added that its new tumor sequencing program has serviced about 1,000 patients, though it has been available for only six weeks. The company will introduce a new 300-gene panel in the fall, he said.
Meanwhile, Bio-Reference's California operations encountered "less-than-satisfactory" results, and "we did not grow commensurate with our investment and the changing reimbursing environment in that local market." Increasing infrastructure costs coupled with lower-than-expected sales had a negative effect of about $.05 per share, he said.
Last week, Bio-Reference and Opko reached a deal for Opko to buy Bio-Reference for $1.47 billion. Grodman said today that the transaction will enhance Bio-Reference's progress in the sequencing space, particularly as it relates to cancer and rare disorders.
Additionally, the deal will facilitate the company's goal to be provider-centric to "maximize their value for the laboratory work they need to manage their patients." Lastly, the acquisition will strengthen the combined firm's sales and marketing team.
"With Opko, we will have a partner with whom we have multiple synergies on multiple levels," Grodman said.
Bio-Reference posted a profit of $10.5 million, or $.38 per share in Q2 2015, up slightly from a profit of $10.3 million, or $.37 per share, a year ago.
The company finished the quarter with $25.1 million in cash and cash equivalents.