NEW YORK – Enzo Biochem reported after the close of the market on Tuesday that its fourth quarter revenues fell nearly 7 percent year over year, due to a 26 percent decrease in revenues from its life sciences business unit.
For the three months ended July 31, the biosciences and diagnostics company said total Q4 revenues fell to $19.5 million from $20.9 million in Q4 2019. Clinical lab revenues increased nearly 5 percent to $13.7 million from $13.1 million a year ago, driven by 10 percent growth in accession count and net revenue per accession due to factors related to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, life sciences revenues fell to $5.8 million from $7.9 million in the year-ago quarter due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The firm noted that its monthly revenues have risen steadily since April when activity was lower as a result of the sharp drop-off in medical visits and the closure of many customer facilities due to COVID-19 lockdowns.
In July, Enzo received Emergency Use Authorization from the US Food and Drug Administration for its SARS-CoV-2 detection system. The EUA extended to Enzo's Genflex automated high-throughput platform, a medium-throughput industry standard platform, and Enzo's manual workflow.
"Our rapid response to market demand for COVID-19 testing products and services demonstrates our agility and flexibility and our ability to maximize new market opportunities by rapidly bringing accurate and reliable testing and lab services to schools, institutions, urgent care facilities, and our core multi-state network of medical practices," Enzo President Barry Weiner said in a statement. "Importantly, we are well positioned to replicate this success in response to new emerging health issues and needs, including upper respiratory, STD, and women's needs."
The firm's Q4 net loss narrowed to $3.3 million, or $.07 per share, from $5.4 million, or $.11 per share, in Q4 2019.
Its R&D expenses for Q4 increased 50 percent to $1.2 million from $800,000 in the year-ago period. The increase was mostly attributable to investments in the Genflex platform, Enzo said. SG&A expenses for the quarter fell 7 percent to $10.1 million from $10.9 million.
For FY2020, the company said total revenues fell 6 percent to $76.0 million from $81.2 million in FY2019. The decrease was primarily due to declines in COVID-19 pandemic-related accession volumes and a slowdown in revenues from the life sciences business unit, though this was somewhat offset by increased COVID-19 testing services that started late in Q3.
The firm recorded a net loss for the year of $28.5 million, or $.60 per share, compared to net income of $2.5 million, or $.05 per share, in 2019.
Its R&D expenses for 2020 increased 38 percent to $4.4 million from $3.2 million in the year-ago period. The increase was mostly attributable to investments in the Genflex platform, Enzo said. SG&A expenses for the quarter fell 3 percent to $43.0 million from $44.3 million. The decrease was primarily due to cost efficiency measures counterbalanced by costs related to COVID-19 testing.
Enzo ended the year with $48.6 million in cash and cash equivalents, including $750,000 in restricted cash.