NEW YORK – Biocept on Wednesday said its fourth quarter revenues dropped 24 percent year over year, primarily due to lower demand for RT-PCR COVID-19 testing.
For the three months ended Dec. 31, 2021, the San Diego-based test provider reported $14.0 million in total revenues compared to $18.5 million in the year-ago period.
In Q4, Biocept booked $14.1 million in RT-PCR COVID-19 test revenues, down 20 percent year-over-year from $17.6 million; $40,000 in development services test revenues, up 25 percent year-over-year from $32,000; and $3,000 in revenues for distributed products, down sharply year-over-year from $160,000. Biocept's distributed products include its Target Selector RUO kits, CEE-Sure specimen collection tubes, and payments for development services.
In Q4, the firm recorded negative $213,000 in oncology test revenues compared to $744,000 in oncology test revenues for Q4 2020.
Biocept accessioned 133,431 total samples during the fourth quarter of 2021, compared with 145,129 total samples during the fourth quarter of 2020.
"Even with the decline in demand for COVID-19 testing services we are currently experiencing, we believe our cash runway is sufficient to fund operations for the current year, including planned investments in CNSide," Samuel Riccitelli, Biocept’s chairman, interim president, and CEO, said in a statement.
CNSide, a commercial service to measure biomarker status for the clinical management of metastatic cancer involving the central nervous system, "holds promise to play a critical role in serial quantitative monitoring of patient response to therapy," he said, adding, "We plan to initiate a two-phased prospective clinical study during the third quarter, and to continue collaborating with biopharmaceutical companies and leading research centers to support their own studies."
Biocept's Q4 R&D spending rose 25 percent year over year to $1.5 million from $1.2 million, with the increase primarily attributable to increases in headcount-related expenses and cost allocations due to investments in CNSide clinical development.
Its SG&A expenses decreased 2 percent year over year to $5.2 million from $5.3 million.
The firm reported a net loss for the quarter of $3.0 million, or $.18 per share, compared to a net income of $1.9 million, or $.14 per share, in Q4 2020.
For the full year 2021 Biocept reported revenues of $61.2 million, up 123 percent year over year from $27.5 million in 2020.
Its 2021 revenues included $60.9 million in commercial test revenues, $147,000 in development services test revenues, and $171,000 in revenues for its Target Selector RUO kits, CEE-Sure blood collection tubes, and development services.
The firm's 2021 R&D expenses dropped 4 percent year over year to $5.0 million from $5.2 million, while its SG&A expenses increased 27 percent year over year to $20.9 million from $16.4 million.
Biocept's full-year net loss narrowed to $2.8 million, or $.19 per share, compared to $17.8 million, or $1.50 per share, in 2020.
The company finished the year with $28.9 million in cash.
In Wednesday morning trading on the Nasdaq, Biocept's shares were up more than 2 percent to $2.22.