NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Quanterix reported after the close of the market on Thursday that its fourth quarter revenues rose 65 percent year over year.
The company posted Q4 revenues of $10.9 million, up from $6.6 million in Q4 2017, beating the consensus Wall Street estimate of $9.3 million.
Q4 product revenues rose 83 percent to $7.5 million in 2018 from $4.1 million in Q4 2017. Service and other revenues rose 52 percent to $3.4 million from $2.2 million in the prior year quarter.
On a conference call following release of the earnings report, Quanterix CEO, President, and Chairman Kevin Hrusovsky said the rise in earnings reflected the strong launch of the company's SR-X system, a benchtop device that can multiplex up to six analytes per experiment. Quanterix launched the SR-X in the fourth quarter of 2017.
Hrusovsky also highlighted the forthcoming launch of two new systems, the SP-X and HD-X. The SP-X is based on the planar immunoassay technology the company acquired when it purchased Aushon Biosystems. Hrusovsky said it will allow for multiplexing of 10 or more analytes, which the company expects will make it attractive to oncology researchers and those studying immunotherapy, in particular. The company plans to launch the system in Q2 2019.
The HD-X is an updated version of the company's HD-1 analyzer, its original platform. The HD-X will offer improved temperature control, sensitivity, and multiplexing compared to the HD-1, Hrusovsky said, noting that the company aims to launch the platform in Q4 2019.
Hrusovsky said Quanterix is also working to boost the sensitivity of its immunoassay technology by 100-fold, noting that this will allow the company to offer assays for a range of protein post-translational modifications of interest to neurology and oncology researchers.
While Quanterix looks to move into oncology with the release of the SP-X system, neurology remained the main driver of revenues in 2018. In particular, sales of assays and services for research into the neurological biomarker neurofilament light chain (Nfl) accounted for more than 10 percent of the company's revenues, Hrusovsky said, noting that the firm had two meetings with the US Food & Drug Administration about applications of the biomarker.
Nfl is potentially useful for diagnosing or monitoring a wide range of neurological diseases including multiple sclerosis, ALS, and Parkinson's. In January, researchers with the Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Network (DIAN) found that Nfl might allow clinicians to diagnose Alzheimer's more than a decade before the onset of symptoms.
Hrusovsky also noted recent additions to the Quanterix's management team. The company hired Jackson Streeter, formerly the CEO and CMO of Banyan Biomarkers, to lead corporate development and strategy; and Mary-Ellen Cortizas, founder and former COO of Claritas Genomics, to run its Accelerator Lab, which conducts biomarker research, custom assay development, and clinical sample testing.
The firm's Q4 net loss widened to $8.8 million from $7.4 million a year ago.
Quanterix's R&D spending during the quarter was flat year over year at $3.9 million. Its SG&A expenses rose 65 percent to $8.9 million from $5.4 million the year before.
For full year 2018, Quanterix's revenues rose 65 percent to $37.6 million from $22.9 million in 2017, beating the Wall Street consensus of $36.1 million. Quanterix noted that the full year 2018 figure included $1.1 million of non-recurring collaboration revenue and that revenues were up 60 percent year over year once that non-recurring figure was excluded.
Product revenues rose 65 percent to $23.4 million in 2018 from $14.1 million in 2017, while service and other revenues rose 58 percent to $12.1 million from $7.7 million in 2017. Collaboration revenues doubled to $2.2 million in 2018 from $1.1 million in 2017.
Quanterix's net loss for full year 2018 widened to $31.0 million from $27.0 million in 2017.
The firm's full-year R&D spending was down 5 percent to $15.3 million from $16.1 million in 2016. Its SG&A spending rose 63 percent to $29.1 million from $17.8 million the year before.
The company ended the year with $45.4 million in cash.
In Friday morning trading on Nasdaq, Quanterix shares were up 2 percent to $24.23.