This story has been updated from a previous version to include comments made by NantHealth executives during the company's earnings call.
NEW YORK – NantHealth reported after the close of the market Thursday that its revenue rose 6 percent during the 2019 first quarter to $23.7 million from $22.3 million in the same period in 2018.
Culver City, California-based NantHealth narrowed its Q1 net loss to $19.9 million, or $.18 per share, compared to $22.2 million, or $.20 per share, a year earlier. On an adjusted basis, its loss per share was $.10.
The company saw a 6 percent uptick in software-related revenue to $21.3 million from $20.1 million in Q1 2018. Revenues from sequencing and molecular analysis dipped to $814,000 from the $840,000 recorded a year earlier. In home healthcare services, Q1 sales totaled $1.6 million, an increase of 17 percent from $1.4 million in the same period in 2018.
NantHealth said that it took orders for 820 of its GPS molecular diagnostic tests in Q1, including 428 GPS Cancer orders and 392 Liquid GPS tests. This total is down from the 1,021 molecular panels ordered in Q4 2018 because of a new company policy restricting access to GPS Cancer and Liquid GPS without the promise for insurance reimbursement or direct payment from patients, COO Ron Louks said Thursday during a conference call with the investment community.
The company's R&D expenses declined by a little more than 1 percent during Q1 to $5.1 million from nearly $5.2 million in the same period a year earlier. Its SG&A expenses fell to $16.8 million from $20.8 million year-on-year, a decrease of 19 percent.
As of March 31, NantHealth had $12.4 million in cash and equivalents. CFO Bob Petrou said that the company has not had to draw on a $100 million line of credit granted last year by sister company NantCapital.
Petrou said that the company expects further revenue growth in the near term to be partly fueled by a recent contract with an undisclosed nonprofit, multistate health insurer for NantHealth's Eviti clinical decision support technology.
NantHealth's shares closed down around 12 percent in Thursday trade at $.70 and opened at $.71 on Friday.
It remains in jeopardy of being delisted by the Nasdaq Stock Market in July, as its share price has languished below $1 since receiving a delisting notice in January.
The company continues to work through the process of obtaining US Food and Drug Administration clearance for GPS Cancer and Liquid GPS, a pathway that NantHealth officials hope will pave the way for Medicare to cover the molecular tests, according to CMO Sandeep "Bobby" Reddy.
"It's moving along a pace we would hope and expect," Reddy said, adding that NantHealth has received "reasonably positive" feedback from the FDA on its submission. Reddy said that the company has a follow-up conference call with regulators later this month.