NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – German molecular diagnostics firm Epigenomics today reported an 83 percent jump in third quarter revenues, which were driven by increased sales of its Epi proColon blood-based colorectal cancer screening test.
For the three-month period ended Sept. 30, Epigenomics revenues rose to €864,000 ($950,000) from €471,000 in the same period last year. Product revenues were up 95 percent year-over-year to €857,000 from €440,000.
"In the third quarter, we continued to execute along our commercialization goals," Epigenomics CEO Greg Hamilton said in a statement. Following the US Food and Drug Administration's April approval of Epi proColon, which detects methylated Septin9, "four of the top six laboratories in the US will now offer methylated Septin9 testing." On Tuesday, Epigenomics announced that Salt Lake City-based ARUP Laboratories would begin offering the test.
"Furthermore, Congressmen Donald M. Payne, Jr. and Charles Dent
introduced bipartisan legislation for Medicare coverage of FDA-approved blood CRC screening tests to drive higher participation in colorectal cancer screening," Hamilton added.
Epigenomics' Q3 net loss fell slightly to €2.3 million, or €.11, from €2.4 million, or €.14 per share, in the same quarter last year. Contributing to the loss per share decrease was an increase in the number of the company's outstanding shares at the end of September.
R&D spending dropped to €926,000 from €1.4 million the year before, primarily due to the absence of study-related costs and the capitalization of development activities for Epi proLung lung cancer diagnostic in Q3 2016. SG&A costs, meanwhile, rose to €2 million from €1.5 million reflecting sales and marketing costs associated with Epi proColon.
The company finished the quarter with €7.3 million in cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities.
Looking ahead, Epigenomics narrowed its 2016 revenue guidance to a range of €3.5 million to €5 million from €3 million to €7 million. With its current cash on hand, including the proceeds of a recent €5 million private placement with SummitView Capital and BioChain subsidiary UChip Technology, the firm said it expects to be able to fund its operations into 2017.
