NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Rosetta Genomics today reported a 44 percent drop in fourth quarter 2016 revenues, reflecting the absence of $1.6 million in non-recurring licensing revenue the company received in the year-ago quarter.
For the three-month period ended Dec. 31, Rosetta's revenues were $2.0 million, down from $3.6 million the year before. Revenues from clinical testing were essentially flat at $2.0 million, as declines in revenues from solid tumor and urologic cancer testing were offset by sales of the company's RosettaGX Reveal assay for the classification of indeterminate thyroid nodules and hematological FISH testing services — both of which were launched in 2016.
In recent quarters, Rosetta has been focusing its sales efforts on Reveal, which it expects will help increase demand for its other products. In the fourth quarter, sales of Reveal increased 38 percent over the third quarter to $389,000. Reveal revenues represented 19 percent of clinical testing revenues in the fourth quarter.
The firm also reported that Q4 revenues from urologic cancer testing services $1.1 million compared with $1.2 million for Q4 2015, and represented approximately 53 percent of clinical testing revenues for the quarter. Revenues from solid tumor testing services were $404,000, compared with $726,000 for the prior year, and represented 20 percent of clinical testing revenues during the quarter. Rosetta further had $156,000 in revenues from its new Heme FISH testing business, which represented 8 percent of clinical testing revenues.
"In addition to increased unit demand for Reveal, we continue to work with payors to ensure proper payment for this assay, which we estimate has the potential to save, on average, $6,000 for each patient tested with Reveal due to its ability to prevent unnecessary thyroid surgeries," Rosetta President and CEO Kenneth Berlin said in a statement.
Rosetta's Q4 net loss narrowed to $4.8 million, or $2.73 a share, from $6.7 million, or $4.39 per share, the year before. On an adjusted basis, the company's net loss per share in the quarter was $2.32.
R&D spending in the quarter fell 18 percent to $818,000 from $1.0 million, while SG&A and business development costs declined slightly to $3.5 million from $3.6 million due to lower lower marketing and travel expenses.
For the full year 2016, Rosetta's revenues climbed nearly 10 percent to $9.2 million from $8.3 million, in part due to $854,000 in revenues from Reveal.
The company's net loss for the year narrowed to $16.2 million, or $9.31 per share, from $17.3 million, or $13.79 per share, in 2015. On an adjusted basis, the firm’s loss per share for the year was $8.50.
Full-year R&D costs were up 7 percent to $3.2 million from $3.0 million, while SG&A and business development spending declined 5 percent to $14.3 million from $15.0 million.
At the end of 2016, Rosetta had cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash, and short-term bank deposits of $6.3 million, which the company said should be sufficient to fund its operations into the third quarter of this year.
The company reiterated its 2017 revenue guidance for Reveal sales of $4 million to $5 million, with 2,500 to 3,500 tests processed throughout the year.