NEW YORK – The US National Institutes of Health has created a website, MakeMyTestCount.org, for individuals to report the result of their at-home COVID-19 tests. The website, developed through NIH's Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics, or RADx, Tech program, allows users to anonymously report the results from any brand of at-home COVID-19 test. In a statement this week, the NIH noted that such test results are often not reported, although they provide valuable data that can be used by public health officials to assess the needs of the local community, state, or nation and respond.
Thermo Fisher Scientific this week issued €1.25 billion ($1.29 billion) worth of senior notes in a public offering. According to the company, €500 million of the notes are due in 2026 with an interest rate of 3.20 percent, and €750 million are due in 2034 with an interest rate of 3.65 percent. Thermo Fisher said interest for both notes will be paid annually.
Biocept this week reported that its third quarter revenues shrunk more than threefold year over year to $5.6 million from $17.5 million in Q3 2021, primarily due to a drop in revenues from RT-PCR COVID-19 testing. Excluding this testing revenue, Biocept's Q3 revenues fell 10 percent to about $900,000 from $1 million a year ago. The San Diego-based company said that Q3 orders for its CNSide assay for detecting tumor cells in cerebrospinal fluid in patients with suspected CNS metastases increased 176 percent year over year and 8 percent sequentially. Biocept's Q3 net loss swelled to $5.5 million, or $.33 per share, from $625,000, or $.04 per share, a year ago. The company finished the quarter with $18.0 million in cash.
Castle Biosciences said this week that the College of American Pathologists (CAP) has accredited its clinical laboratory facility in Pittsburgh following the necessary on-site inspection. Castle took on the Pittsburgh lab through its acquisition of Cernostics in December 2021.
Biodesix said this week that it has raised $40.3 million in gross proceeds from its previously announced public offering of 35,075,000 shares of its common stock at $1.15 per share. This includes the exercise in full by the underwriter to purchase up to an additional 4,575,000 shares at $1.15 per share. William Blair was the sole bookrunning manager for the offering.
In Brief This Week is a selection of news items that may be of interest to our readers but had not previously appeared on 360Dx.