NEW YORK – Abbott last week said in its Form 10-Q filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission that its management approved plans to streamline operations to reduce costs and improve efficiencies. As a result, the company recorded employee-related severance and other charges of $60 million in the nine months ended Sept. 30. Of that $60 million, $39 million was recorded in the cost of products sold, $2 million was recorded in research and development, and $19 million was recorded in selling, general, and administrative expenses. Payments related to the actions totaled $25 million in the period, and Abbott recognized asset impairment charges of $22 million related to the restructuring plans.
Precision oncology genomics company Personalis this week said its third quarter revenues jumped 41 percent to $25.7 million from $18.2 million a year ago driven largely by nearly doubling its pharma testing and services revenue to $15.7 million from $8.0 million a year ago. During the quarter, the company also raised approximately $35.0 million in net financing proceeds from Tempus AI, consisting of $18.4 million from Tempus' exercise of all its common stock warrants, at an average price of $2.00 per share, and $16.6 million net of expenses, from Tempus' purchase of common stock at a price of $5.07 per share. Personalis also raised an additional $27.2 million in net proceeds in the quarter from selling common stock under an at-the-market program at a weighted-average price of $5.84 per share. The company's Q3 net loss swelled to $39.1 million, or $.64 per share, from a net loss of $29.1 million, or $.60 per share, a year ago. Personalis also raised its full-year revenue guidance to a range of $83 million to $84 million from prior guidance of $79 million to $81 million.
Aspira Women’s Health said this week that it has expanded its comarketing and distribution agreement with BioReference to include its OvaWatch test. OvaWatch, which is intended for assessing the risk of ovarian cancer in women with an adnexal mass evaluated as indeterminate or benign, received approval from the New York State Department of Health’s Clinical Laboratory Evaluation Program in October, making it available to women in that state. The comarketing agreement previously covered only Aspira’s OVA1Plus test, which it continues to cover.
Accelerate Diagnostics this week announced its Q3 2024 financial results, reporting total revenus of $3.0 million, down from $3.3 million in Q3 2023. According to the company, the decline was driven by lower instrument net sales but partially offset by a 9 percent rise in consumables. Net loss for the quarter was $14.6 million, or $.59 per share, compared to net income of $910,000, or $.06 per share, in the prior-year quarter. The firm added five new contracted Pheno instruments during the quarter.
Accelerate ended the quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $19.7 million and investments of $1.2 million.
The National Health Service (NHS) in Wales and Illumina have inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) designed to "foster coproduction in genomics and promote seamless integration across the health and social care system in Wales," the partners said in a statement this week. The MoU will build on existing research into lung cancer diagnostics, with the ambition to further expand into other cancer types and into wider areas of genomics with the aim of prevention, earlier diagnosis, and personalized treatments, the partners said. The agreement has been signed by the Cardiff and Vale University Health Board, Cardiff University, Public Health Wales, and Illumina Cambridge Limited, in collaboration with the Welsh government and facilitated by Life Science Hub Wales and Genomics Partnership Wales.
Thermo Fisher Scientific’s board this week authorized a quarterly cash dividend of $.39 per share, payable on Jan. 14, 2025, to shareholders of record on Dec. 13, 2024.
Molecular diagnostics firm Co-Diagnostics this week reported third quarter revenues of $600,000, down from $2.5 million in the year-ago period primarily due to the timing of grant revenue recognition. The company recorded $400,000 in grant revenue and $200,000 in product revenue in Q3. The firm's quarterly net loss swelled to $9.7 million, or $.32 per share, from a net loss of $6 million, or $.20 per share, a year ago. Co-Diagnostics finished the quarter with $37.7 million in cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities.
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