NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Nanosphere reported today that its fourth quarter revenues grew nearly 48 percent year over year driven by sales of its infectious disease tests.
For the three months ended Dec. 31, 2015, the company reported revenues of $6.8 million compared to $4.6 million in Q4 2014, and in line with its preliminary earnings announcement in January.
"As we noted in our preliminary release, we are pleased to report continued growth of our infectious disease menu through our expanding customer base," said CEO Michael McGarrity in a statement.
Nanosphere's Q4 net loss narrowed to $5.7 million, or $1.28 per share, compared to a loss of $9.5 million, or $1.80 per share, a year ago.
Its R&D expenses fell 49 percent to $3.6 million from $7.0 million, while its SG&A expenses were nearly flat at $4.5 million versus $4.4 million the year before.
For full-year 2015, Nanosphere reported that total revenues also rose nearly 48 percent to $21.1 million from $14.3 million in 2014.
The firm's net loss for the year narrowed to $30.6 million, or $6.02 per share, from $39.1 million, or $9.35 per share, the year before.
The company's R&D expenses fell to $15.2 million from $21.7 million in the prior year, and its SG&A expenses fell slightly to $20.7 million from $21.8 million in 2014. The $6.5 million reduction in R&D resulted primarily from the completion of clinical trials related to the Enteric and RP Flex pathogens assays, the company said, and the decrease in SG&A expenses was primarily due to a decrease in equity compensation expenses.
Nanosphere ended the year with cash and cash equivalents of $15.1 million and restricted cash of $4 million.
For 2016, the company said it expects revenues of $28 million to $30 million.
"We believe the demonstrated accuracy of our test menu, the clinical and economic data generated by our customer base, and the compelling and proprietary benefits of our Flex panel design give us confidence in, and visibility to, our continued growth reflected in our 2016 guidance," McGarrity added.
The company is also preparing to begin clinical trials for its next-generation Verigene Flex system, he said. Nanosphere anticipates submitting the system for regulatory approval by the end of the third quarter of 2016.
On a conference call discussing the results, McGarrity said the company has a "compelling" proprietary menu, a loyal customer base, and a growing reputation for excellence, adding that the new version of Verigene will take Nanosphere's proven chemistry and combine it with a best-in-class system design and user interface.
Though he couldn't predict when the company might receive regulatory approval for the system, he did say that the company has had talks with the US Food and Drug Administration about its clinical trial plans, which McGarrity called "well defined." He also added that Nanosphere isn't changing the chemistry behind the new Verigene system in any meaningful way, a circumstance which provides "a reasonably straightforward path through the FDA." It's possible approval could come in early 2017.