NEW YORK – Transplant diagnostics firm CareDx reported after the close of the market on Thursday that its fourth quarter revenues rose 52 percent year over year, largely thanks to a 54 percent increase in testing revenues.
For the three months ended Dec. 31, 2019, the company reported total revenues of $35.8 million, up from $23.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2018, and in line with the Wall Street estimate.
Testing services revenues rose to $29.1 million from $18.9 million in Q4 2018. Product revenues rose to $5.1 million from $4.6 million, while digital and other revenues rose to $1.6 million from $63,000.
"We are very pleased with our fourth quarter and 2019 annual financial results," CareDx CEO Peter Maag said in a statement. "2019 was an exceptional year for CareDx, as we continued to build an incredible moat in transplantation. With AlloSure and AlloMap, we impact more transplant patients every day. With our transplant-focused clinical activities and our pipeline advancing, our platform is promising to deliver continued stellar growth."
On a conference call with analysts following the release of the earnings, Maag said that the company provided 14,055 patient results in Q4, a 63 percent increase from the 8,632 results the company provided in Q4 2018. CareDx also noted that it provided approximately 49,000 patient results in 2019. More than 30 US transplant centers had adopted the firm's AlloSure Kidney transplant testing protocol as of Dec. 31.
The firm's Q4 net loss widened to $4.8 million, or $.11 per share, from $3.8 million, or $.09 per share, a year earlier. On an adjusted basis, the company reported income of $.04 per share during the quarter, beating analysts' estimate of $.01 per share.
CareDx's R&D expenses rose 134 percent in Q4 to $8.9 million from $3.8 million a year earlier. Its SG&A costs for the quarter rose 68 percent to $19.7 million from $11.7 million.
For the full year, CareDx said revenues rose 66 percent to $127.1 million from $76.6 million in 2018, narrowly beating the Wall Street estimate of $127.0 million.
Testing revenues for the year rose to $104.6 million from $60.3 million. Product revenues rose to $18.3 million from $15.7 million in 2018, while digital and other revenues rose to $4.2 million from $595,000.
The firm's net loss for the year narrowed to $22.0 million, or $.52 per share, from a net loss of $46.8 million, or $1.31 per share in 2018. On an adjusted basis, CareDx reported income of $.10 per share for the year, beating the analyst estimate of $.08 per share.
R&D costs for the year rose 112 percent to $30.7 million from $14.5 million in 2018, while SG&A expenses rose 69 percent to $75.4 million from $44.7 million.
At the end of the year, CareDx had $38.2 million in cash and cash equivalents.
For full-year 2020, the company said it expects revenues to be in the range of $165 million to $168 million. Analysts are expecting revenues of $170.4 million for 2020.
For the coming year, Maag said the company expects its AlloSeq Tx HLA typing product and its AlloSeq cell-free DNA kit to start driving product revenues. The products were launched in September 2019, and received high marks from beta testers, Maag noted.
He also said he expects adoption of AlloSure Kidney to continue to rise in 2020, noting that the product only has about 4 percent market penetration at this point.
CareDx is also planning to expand its offerings in stem cell and cellular therapies in the coming year, according to Maag, and will be launching a digital product called AlloCare, a tool to help drive engagement from kidney transplant patients and enhance their experience with AlloSure.