NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Great Basin Scientific today reported that its first quarter revenues rose 14 percent year over year, driven primarily by an 82 percent increase in sales of its Group B Strep assay.
For the three months ended March 31, the Salt Lake City-based firm reported revenue of $830,777, up from $731,422 in the first quarter of 2016.
Sales of Group B Strep tests rose 82 percent during quarter, while sales of C. diff tests fell 5 percent from the first quarter of 2016. Sales of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli test and Staph ID/R Blood Culture Panel, which became commercially available in late 2016, rose 47 percent sequentially from the fourth quarter of 2016. Great Basin also recognized revenues in the first quarter from discounted Investigational Use Only versions of its new Stool Bacterial Pathogens Panel, in anticipation of FDA clearance in 2017.
Net income for the quarter was $21.5 million, compared to a loss of $33.7 million a year ago. However, the firm reported a net loss of $.70 per share for the quarter, compared to a net loss of $68,819.03 per share in Q1 2016. The firm used 17.4 million shares to calculate income in Q1 2016 compared to 489 shares in the year-ago period.
"We are very pleased with the improvements we made in the first quarter of 2017, as we move from the high-investment menu expansion plan of 2016 to a leaner, growth-focused strategy for 2017," Great Basin Cofounder and CEO Ryan Ashton said in a statement. "During the first quarter, we recorded revenues from a product suite that included five assays compared to only two assays a year ago. We also shipped and recorded modest revenues for our Stool Bacterial Pathogens Panel on a discounted Investigational Use Only basis during the quarter. This was ahead of anticipated US Food and Drug Administrative clearance, which we continue to expect to receive in mid-2017."
The firm's R&D spending decreased 13 percent to $2.0 million from $2.3 million due to reduction of internal costs associated with the completion of clinical trials and commercial launch of new products. SG&A expenses, meanwhile, decreased 11 percent to $3.3 million from $3.7 million as a result of restructuring and reduction in the quarter. The firm also reported a 30 percent reduction in first quarter total operating expenses compared to the fourth quarter.
Great Basin finished the quarter with $25,616 in cash and $17.0 million in restricted cash.