NEW YORK — Laboratory Corporation of American and Invitae said this week that the US Bankruptcy Court has approved the sale of Invitae's assets to Labcorp. The $239 million deal announced in late April follows Invitae's petition for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February. The purchase was contingent on the bankruptcy court approving it and is expected to close in the third quarter.
The Northwell Health Cancer Institute and its Center for Genomic Medicine said this week that they have opened a $3.2 million molecular diagnostics laboratory in Lake Success, New York. The 2,800-square-foot facility is equipped with next-generation sequencing technology for point-of-care tumor and patient genomic profiling to identify appropriate therapies for patients. According to Northwell, the lab will enable improved diagnosis and prognosis for cancer patients and lower costs to them and the health system. Tests offered by the lab in a phased approach include four single gene tests initially — EGFR for non-small cell lung cancer; BRAF for melanoma; KRAS for colorectal, pancreatic, and lung cancers; and BRAF/NRAS for melanoma. In the pipeline is Thermo Fisher Scientific's Oncomine Comprehensive Assay v3, a 161-gene NGS panel for solid malignancies; the Thermo Fisher Scientific Oncomine Myeloid Assay, a 45-gene NGS panel for hematologic malignancies; and MSI-H, a genetic test to evaluate how tumors respond to immunotherapy.
Danaher announced this week that its board of directors has approved a quarterly cash dividend of $.27 per share of its common stock payable on July 26 to shareholders of record on June 28.
Accelerate Diagnostics this week announced that its preliminary Q1 net sales rose 4 percent to $2.9 million from $2.8 million in Q1 2023. Revenues from consumable products rose 7 percent year over year. The firm’s net loss was $17.0 million, or $.88 per share, compared to $16.8 million, or $1.71 per share, in Q1 2023. Accelerate Diagnostics ended the quarter with $14.6 million in cash and cash equivalents.
Sera Prognostics said this week that it had no first quarter revenues. The Salt Lake City-based maternity and neonatal health company said that its Q1 revenue before adjustments was $39,000, down 61 percent from $100,000 in Q1 2023, but added that following a periodic review of accounting estimates for older tests it determined that it had no Q1 2024 revenue. Its net loss contracted to $8.1 million, or $.25 per share, for the recently completed quarter from a net loss of $10.6 million, or $.34 per share, a year ago. Sera's R&D spending fell 10 percent to $3.7 million from $4.1 million a year ago. Its SG&A costs shrank 26 percent to $5.4 million from $7.3 million. The firm said in a statement that the lower R&D expenses were due largely to lower clinical study costs while the decline in SG&A spending was due to efforts to streamline its commercial operations. Sera had $4.2 million in cash and cash equivalents and $48.7 million in marketable securities as of March 31.
Co-Diagnostics reported this week that its Q1 revenues declined 22 percent to $467,854 from $601,957 in the prior-year quarter. Product revenues were $252,745 compared to $601,957 a year ago, and grant revenues were $215,109 compared to no grant revenues in Q1 2023. CoDx's net loss was $9.3 million, or $.31 per share, compared to $5.8 million, or $.20 per share a year ago. The Salt Lake City-based company ended the quarter with $23.1 million in cash and cash equivalents and $26.7 million in marketable investment securities.
Swedish genetic testing company Devyser Diagnostics reported a 28 percent year-over-year increase in first quarter revenues this week. Sales for the quarter totaled SEK 50.7 million ($4.7 million), up from SEK 39.5 million in the year-ago quarter, driven by higher direct sales and distributor sales. R&D costs totaled SEK 10.7 million in Q1, down from SEK 11.1 million a year ago, while selling and administrative expenses were SEK 47.2 million, up from SEK 41.7 million in Q1 2023. The company had a Q1 net loss of SEK 12.2 million, or SEK .75 per share, down from a net loss of SEK 19.9 million, or SEK 1.24 per share, a year ago. Devyser ended the quarter with SEK 215.0 million in cash and cash equivalents.
Sera Prognostics said this week that it had no first quarter revenues. The Salt Lake City-based maternity and neonatal health company said that its Q1 revenue before adjustments was $39,000, down 61 percent from $100,000 in Q1 2023, but added that following a periodic review of accounting estimates for older tests it determined that it had no Q1 2024 revenue. Its net loss contracted to $8.1 million, or $.25 per share, for the recently completed quarter from a net loss of $10.6 million, or $.34 per share, a year ago. Sera's R&D spending fell 10 percent to $3.7 million from $4.1 million a year ago. Its SG&A costs shrank 26 percent to $5.4 million from $7.3 million. The firm said in a statement that the lower R&D expenses were due largely to lower clinical study costs while the decline in SG&A spending was due to efforts to streamline its commercial operations. Sera had $4.2 million in cash and cash equivalents and $48.7 million in marketable securities as of March 31.
Teal Health said this week that the US Food and Drug Administration has granted breakthrough device designation for the firm's Teal Wand instrument for at-home sample collection for use in cervical cancer screening. The San Francisco-based firm said that it received the designation following an agency review of promising midpoint clinical trial data. The Teal Wand is used to collect vaginal samples that are mailed to a laboratory for primary screening for high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV).
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.