NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Biological detection systems firm PositiveID today reported a greater than 200 percent jump in revenues for 2015, primarily due to the receipt of a previously deferred licensee fee. However, the company still fell short of its own guidance.
For the 12-month period ended Dec. 31, PositiveID's revenues ballooned to $2.9 million from $945,000 in 2014.
Approximately 90 percent of revenues for the year came from the license fee paid by Boeing, which agreed in late 2012 to pay $2.5 million for the exclusive rights to PositiveID's M-BAND airborne bio-threat detector in North America. The remainder of the company's revenues for 2015 were derived from the operations of laboratory and communication vehicle maker ENG Mobile Systems and non-contact thermometer developer Thermomedics, both of which PositiveID acquired in 2015.
Despite the increase, however, the yearly revenues did not reach the level the company had expected — in early 2015, PositiveID predicted 2015 revenues to be in the range of $3 million to $6 million.
The firm's net loss for 2015 widened to $11.4 million from $7.2 million the year before. However, net loss per share narrowed to $.04 from $.09 in 2014 due to an increase in average shares outstanding.
Research and development spending rose to $1.4 million from $588,000, largely due to expenses around the development of the company's PCR-based point-of-care pathogen-detection system, Firefly Dx. PositiveID said it is currently seeking a partner to fund the additional development of Firefly Dx needed to prepare for commercialization. SG&A spending rose 30 percent to $5.6 million in 0215 from $4.3 million in 2014, attributable to overhead related to increased R&D and marketing expenses.
At the end of 2015, PositiveID had cash totaling $173,000.
Looking ahead, the firm reaffirmed its guidance for 2016 revenues of $5 million to $6 million.