NEW YORK – Genetron Health said on Thursday that its first quarter revenues were up nearly 20 percent year over year.
For the three months ended March 31, the Chinese precision oncology firm reported total revenues of RMB 110.3 million (US $17.4 million), compared to RMB 92.1 million in the year-ago period.
Revenue from cancer diagnosis and monitoring tests increased 14 percent to RMB 99.5 million from RMB 87.1 million in Q1 2021, primarily driven by the firm's LDT services and sale of IVD products.
Genetron's laboratory-developed test revenue increased about 14 percent to RMB 81.5 million from RMB 71.8 million in the same period of 2021. The firm sold approximately 5,560 LDT tests in the first quarter of 2022, an increase of about 9 percent year over year.
In-hospital IVD revenue was RMB 18.0 million, up about 18 percent from RMB 15.3 million. Genetron said this was driven by sales of the Genetron S5 instrument and 8-gene, tissue-based lung cancer assay.
The company's development services revenue was RMB 10.8 million in the quarter, more than double the RMB 5 million it reported in Q1 2021, as both sequencing and biopharma activities increased.
As of March 31, Genetron said it had 60 hospital partners, 31 of which were IVD in-hospital partners.
"While the 'zero COVID' strategy in China and the lockdowns in our key markets have led to [a restriction of] operations and [a] limiting [of] patient traffic … we are pleased with the resiliency of our business and our ability to grow each of our segments in the first quarter," Genetron Chairman and CEO Sizhen Wang said in a statement.
"Data publications in Clinical and Translational Medicine and our presentations at the AACR Annual Meeting 2022 continue to demonstrate the capabilities of our innovative technology and this will support product adoption and advance our product pipeline," he added.
During a call with investors, Wang said that Genetron remains on track for a pilot launch of its tumor-informed, personalized MRD assay by the end of Q2, with a full launch expected by the end of the year, buoyed by some of this new data.
Although the firm's 5,000-patient registrational trial for its PCR-based liver cancer screening assay, HCC Scan, is progressing well, a sister study for the firm's multi-omics next-generation sequencing-based version of the test has been slightly delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Wang said Genetron now expects enrollment to begin in Q3.
According to Wang, the company is confident that this strategy of pursuing both PCR and NGS tests will help the most patients, considering the currently established PCR infrastructure in many hospitals and clinics in China.
Genetron has also made recent inroads for establishing its screening technology outside China. "We have started a complementary study with two medical institutions in the US and may present the data at an upcoming conference, Wang said.
Genetron's net loss for the quarter was RMB 174.9 million, or RMB .38 per share, compared to RMB 115.0 million, or RMB .25 per share, in Q1 2021.
Its R&D expenses rose about 59 percent to RMB 79.6 million from RMB 50.0 million in Q1 2021, driven by higher headcount and continuing product development and clinical trial activities.
The firm's Q1 SG&A spending was RMB 141 million, up about 35 percent from RMB 104.3 million in the same period last year.
Genetron ended the year with RMB 319.3 million in cash and cash equivalents.