NEW YORK – Quantum-Si on Monday reported a net loss of $35.7 million in the second quarter of 2021, up roughly fourfold from $8.2 million in the year-ago period.
The proteomics startup, which debuted on the Nasdaq in June after closing a business combination transaction with SPAC HighCape Capital Acquisition, did not post any revenues during the quarter ended June 30.
Founded by Jonathan Rothberg, inventor of the Ion Torrent next-generation sequencing technology, Quantum-Si aims to similarly apply semiconductor chip technology to protein sequencing, allowing for single-molecule analysis of proteins, including post-translational modifications. Ultimately, the company plans to apply its technology to molecules beyond proteins, including metabolites and nucleic acids.
During a conference call following release of the financial results, Quantum-Si's CEO John Stark said that the company has shipped early-access versions of its proteomics platform to five external sites, including Northwestern University and VIB in Belgium.
These sites are "providing extremely useful feedback to the Quantum-Si product development and commercial support teams to validate system performance and initiate study design," he said.
Stark said the company plans a broad commercial launch for the system next year, and that it is scaling its organization and ensuring it has the supply chain and inventory in place to meet its anticipated demand.
He said that Quantum-Si has entered a lease agreement to develop a 25,000-square-foot research and production facility in San Diego that would be operational in Q3 2021 and added that the company plans to double its headcount this year to around 150 employees.
Quantum-SI's loss per share during the quarter was $3.05. Loss per share was $1.53 in Q2 2020. The weighted-average shares used to compute net loss per share in Q2 2021 was 11.7 million, versus 5.4 million in Q2 2020.
Quantum-Si's R&D spending doubled during the quarter to $13.1 million from $6.6 million in Q2 2020. SG&A spending was $19.1 million, up roughly twelvefold from $1.6 million in Q2 2020.
Quantum-Si CFO Claudia Drayton said the company expects operational spending to grow sequentially over the next few quarters as the company prepares for a broad commercial launch.
As of June 30, the company had $522.0 million in cash and cash equivalents.
In Tuesday morning trading on Nasdaq, Quantum-Si stock was up less than 1 percent to $8.18.