NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) - WaferGen Biosystems reported after the close of the market Wednesday that its third quarter revenues rose 54 percent driven by increased SmartChip capital equipment sales.
For the three months ended Sept. 30, WaferGen reported total revenues of $2 million compared to $1.3 million in Q3 2014, in line with analysts' consensus estimate.
In a statement, the firm highlighted the launch of its ICell8 Single Cell System and a recent public offering that raised $15.7 million in net proceeds. CEO Rollie Carlson said that the firm is "now well capitalized in order to support a number of key corporate initiatives, including ICell8-related commercialization activities."
On a conference call following the release of the results, WaferGen officials said that the firm was recently awarded US Patent 9,132,427, for an "an apparatus, systems, chips, and methods of performing a large number of simultaneous chemical reactions," bringing the firm's total number of patents to five. The US Patent and Trademark Office has also issued a Notice of Allowance for the firm's patent application 12/624,399, which describes an apparatus and method for multiplex analysis.
Product revenue in the quarter increased 68 percent to $1.9 million from $1.1 million, attributable to increases in sales of SmartChip capital equipment and sales of real-time PCR chip panels and services, while the firm's license and royalty revenue were flat for the quarter at $125,000.
The company had a net loss for the quarter of $3.5 million, or $.61 per share, compared with a loss of $2.8 million, or $1.02 per share, in the year-ago period, meeting the consensus Wall Street estimate of a $.61 loss per share.
WaferGen's R&D spending jumped 26 percent to $2.4 million from $1.9 million in Q3 2014, due to costs associated with developing its single-cell technology, while its SG&A expenses ticked up 5 percent to $2.2 million from $2.1 million. Company officials said during the call that this increase was primarily due to increased staffing and preparation for the launch of the ICell8 System.
WaferGen ended the quarter with $3.7 million in cash and cash equivalents, which did not include the $15.7 million raised in the public offering, which closed after the end of the quarter.
The firm reiterated its full-year 2015 guidance for revenues between $7.8 million and $8.2 million.
In morning trade on the Nasdaq, shares of WaferGen were down almost 4 percent at $.92.