NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Interpace Diagnostics said after the close of the market on Thursday that its second quarter revenues rose 41 percent year over year.
For the three months ended June 30, Interpace posted $5.5 million in revenues, up from $3.9 million in Q2 2017, and surpassing the consensus Wall Street estimate of $5.0 million.
Highlights in the recently completed quarter include coverage of the company's ThyGenX and ThyraMIR molecular thyroid tests by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida and Blue Shield of California.
Subsequent to the end of Q2, Cigna also said that it would begin covering the ThyraMIR test.
"We continued our quarter-over-quarter growth, with both strong volume growth and gains in reimbursement, especially in our thyroid franchise, and I am very pleased to report our recent success in growing our PancraGEN franchise as well, both contributing to record revenues," Interpace President and CEO Jack Stover said in a statement. PancraGEN is a molecular test for pancreatic cysts and pancreaticobiliary solid lesions.
For Q2 2018, Interpace posted a net loss of $1.9 million, or $.07 per share, compared to a net loss of $6.3 million, or $.65 per share, in the prior year. It beat analysts' average estimate of a loss of $.09 per share.
The firm used 28 million shares to calculate its per-share loss in Q2 2018, compared to 9.7 million shares in Q2 2017.
Its R&D costs rose 25 percent year over year to $518,000 from $413,000, while its SG&A costs were cut 12 percent to $3.8 million from $4.3 million.
Interpace exited Q2 2018 with $10.1 million in cash and cash equivalents.
During Q3, its pipeline progress will focus on building a commercial runway for its BarreGEN test to aid physicians in assessing the risk that a patient with Barrett's Esophagus may progress to esophageal cancer. Last month, company officials said that the test is being used by a number of institutions as part of a clinical evaluation program, and Interpace is close to commercially launching the test.
The company added on Thursday it is working on a second clinical validity study to support clinical use of BarreGEN.
Other priorities in Q3 include offering and partnering its data and capabilities in bioinformatics, as well as acquiring or in-licensing products and expanding its product offering outside the US, Interpace added.
In morning trading on the Nasdaq on Friday, Interpace's shares were up 7 percent at $1.10.