Skip to main content
Premium Trial:

Request an Annual Quote

Epigenomics Posts Strong Revenue Gains in 2021 on Blood Biobank Sale

NEW YORK — Epigenomics on Thursday posted a sharp year-over-year increase in revenues for 2021, even as sales of its diagnostic test kits fell, due to the company's divestiture of its blood sample biobank last year.

For the 12-month period ended Dec. 31, 2021, Epigenomics' revenues surged to €6.2 million ($6.8 million) from €842,000 in 2020 off the $6.7 million sale of the biobank to New Horizon Health in August.

Revenues from test kits sales during 2021 were down 33 percent to €400,000 from €600,000 the year before, which the firm attributed to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on sales of its Epi proColon blood-based colorectal cancer test. Also impacting Epi proColon sales was the US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' (CMS) denial of coverage for the test in January 2021.

As a result of CMS' decision, Epigenomics is no longer actively marketing Epi proColon and is turning its attention to the development of a next-generation version of the test. A 16,000-patient clinical study of the new test is slated to begin this summer and will take an estimated two years to complete, Epigenomics said. The company added that if the test receives US Food and Drug Administration approval and meets the criteria for blood-based colorectal cancer screening tests set by CMS, it will be automatically reimbursed by CMS.

Berlin-based Epigenomics' net loss for 2021 decreased to €2.4 million, or €.22 a share, from a year-ago loss of €11.7 million, or €2.02 per share.

R&D spending during 2021 fell 16 percent to €3.1 million from €3.7 million, while SG&A costs edged up 3 percent to €7.5 million from €7.3 million. In 2021 Epigenomics also recorded a 65 percent drop in other expenses, which almost exclusively resulted from the appreciation of the euro against the US dollar, to €1.0 million from €2.9 million in 2020.

At the end of 2021, Epigenomics had cash and cash equivalents totaling €23.0 million.

Looking ahead, Epigenomics said that it expects 2022 revenues to be in the range of €300,000 to €800,000.