This story has been updated from a previous version to include comments from Quidel's earnings call.
NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Quidel reported after the close of the market on Wednesday that its second quarter revenues dropped 2 percent year over year, driven by a decline in influenza-related testing.
For the three months ended June 30, the company reported that revenues dropped to $38.3 million from $39.1 million in Q2 2016, and missed the average analysts' estimate of $41.8 million.
Immunoassay product revenues rose 1 percent to $21.9 million from $21.8 million, the company said. Within that category, sales of Sofia test kits went up 21 percent to $7.9 million and QuickVue testing product revenues dropped 10 percent to $13.8 million. Molecular product revenues grew 44 percent to $3.2 million from $2.2 million in Q2 2016, and specialty products revenues grew 5 percent to $3.3 million from $3.1 million in the prior-year period.
Revenues from Quidel's virology business dropped 7 percent to $9.2 million from $9.9 million, mostly due to a decline in the sales of respiratory products. Revenues from royalties, grants, and other categories fell to $762,000 from $1.9 million a year earlier.
"Our second quarter financial results reflected typical seasonality in our business with the decline in testing for Influenza-like Illness in April," Quidel CEO Douglas Bryant said in a statement.
He also noted the recent acquisition of Alere Triage assets as an important step in the company’s long-term strategic plan and said that it will broaden its business by unlocking opportunities in several new end markets, both geographically and by product.
For the second quarter, Quidel trimmed its R&D spending 22 percent year over year to $7.6 million from $9.7 million, but it increased its SG&A costs 3 percent year over year to $19.1 million from $18.6 million. The firm also reported a one-time acquisition cost of $2.4 million in the recently completed quarter, compared to $252,000 a year ago. The increase was related primarily to the acquisition of the Alere Triage assets, Quidel said.
On a conference call with analysts following the release of the earnings, Bryant said that the company is making progress with its new products and is growing organically.
"We began actively promoting those products and I can tell you that market receptivity has been very good and encouraging. Based on feedback from our commercial organization, I can say with certainty that Sofia 2 with Virena has legs, and will meet or exceed our expectations over the next few years" he added.
The firm also noted that it has received a CLIA waiver for Sofia 2 for use with its Influenza and RSV assays this quarter. It expects to launch Sofia 2, alongside Sofia Vitamin D and Sofia Lyme, by the end of the year.
Working with one of its larger distribution partners in the US on a Solana blitz program during the second quarter, Quidel believes it could see an acceleration in molecular sales as it exits the year.
Quidel posted a net loss of $11.8 million, or $.35 per share, compared to a net loss of $7.8 million, or $.24 per share, in Q2 2016. On an adjusted basis, the company posted a loss of $.12 per share, beating the analysts' estimate for a loss of $.18 per share.
Quidel finished the second quarter with $175 million in cash and cash equivalents.
Quidel's shares were down more than 2 percent to $36.40 in Wednesday morning trading on the Nasdaq.