NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – GeneNews today said that it recorded C$37,000 (US$33,000) in revenues for the fourth quarter, down 38 percent year over year from C$60,000 a year ago.
For the three months ended Dec. 31, 2013 the company recorded C$36,744 in revenues derived from milestone revenues from the completion of a research project undertaken at the start of the year, compared to no such revenues recorded in the year-ago period, GeneNews said in a document filed with Canadian regulators.
The Toronto-based company's consolidated net loss for the quarter was C$2.6 million, or C$.07 per share, up from C$1.1 million, or C$.05 per share, a year ago.
Its R&D costs in the quarter dropped to C$107,000 from C$487,000 a year ago, while its SG&A costs rose 49 percent to C$704,000 from C$474,000.
For full-year 2013, GeneNews' revenues were more than halved to C$132,000 from C$280,000 in 2012. In its regulatory document, GeneNews said that royalty revenues in 2013 fell to C$54,908 from C$264,933 a year ago, reflecting a decline in sales of the company's ColonSentry colon cancer test by Enzo Clinical Lab.
The firms had reached a deal in 2012 for Enzo to provide the test in New York and New Jersey. During 2013, though, changes in the US reimbursement landscape for molecular diagnostic tests resulted in Enzo's unwillingness to continue selling ColonSentry.
"As a result, the commercial relationship has been placed on hold until such time as GeneNews is confident [Enzo] will be able to satisfy the terms of [its] marketing partnership agreement," GeneNews said.
Its net loss for 2013 was C$9.4 million, or C$.31 per share, up from a net loss of C$5.1 million, or C$.28 per share, in 2012.
The company shaved its R&D expenses 11 percent to C$1.7 million from C$1.9 million a year ago. Its SG&A costs rose 44 percent to C$3.9 million from C$2.7 million. GeneNews also incurred restructuring costs of C$797,000 in 2013, compared to none in 2012.
GeneNews finished 2013 with almost C$3.0 million in cash and cash equivalents.
"The steps implemented in 2013 have laid the foundation for a successful 2014," GeneNews Executive Chairman James R. Howard-Tripp said in a statement. "Doctor and patient interest in the ColonSentry test has been high, we continue to work on a consistent reimbursement profile, and we have made significant progress in building IDL's sales force and scaling-up to a full US launch."
IDL, short for Innovative Diagnostic Laboratory, is a clinical laboratory formed as part of a joint venture GeneNews entered into with Health Diagnostic Laboratory and a specialized diagnostic sales organization.
"Accordingly, we continue to expect that ColonSentry will be commercially available across the US before the end of the current calendar quarter," Howard-Tripp said.