NEW YORK – SQI Diagnostics on Wednesday reported that its revenues for the fourth quarter rose 14 percent.
For the three months ended Sept. 30, the company posted revenue of C$640,000 (US$485,461) compared to C$563,000 in the prior-year quarter.
The Toronto-based firm said its net loss for Q4 2019 widened to C$2.8 million, or C$.01 per share, from a net loss of C$2.0 million, or C$.01 per share, a year ago.
Its fourth quarter R&D spending rose 72 percent year over year to C$1.5 million from C$870,000, while its SG&A spending was relatively flat year over year at C$758,000 compared to C$761,000.
SQI exited the quarter with C$3.4 million in cash.
For fiscal year 2019, SQI posted revenue of C$1.9 million, up 46 percent year over year from C$1.3 million.
The firm posted an annual net loss of C$8.0 million, or C$.04 per share, compared to a net loss of C$7.4 million, or C$.06 per share, a year ago.
Its R&D spending for 2019 rose 14 percent year over year to C$5.0 million from C$4.4 million, while its SG&A spending rose 7 percent to C$3.1 million from C$2.9 million in fiscal 2018.
The firm said that in its product pipeline in 2019 it focused on organ transplant and lung health, involving use of its multiplexed TORdx Lung test. The test is undergoing customer evaluation and is onsite at the Toronto Lung Transplant Centre along with two other SQI tests in different stages of product development. They are the TORdx Lung+, a seven-plex test in the final phase of development with customer validation starting in this month, and the point-of-care two-plex TORdx Rapid test, which the firm anticipates will move into production and commercialization in 2020.
SQI said it has deployed its first Sqidlite instrument to University Health Network, Toronto General Hospital's Lung Transplant Group.
The firm's multiplexing technology prints proteins to quantitate antibodies or prints antibodies to quantitate biomarkers on a 96-well plate. Differentially labeled secondary antibodies fluorescently identify isotypes and subclasses.
The firm also announced that it has appointed Eric Brouwer, its chief scientific officer, as interim CEO. He replaces Andrew Morris, who will continue as a director of the company and take an advisory role for up to one year. SQI also announced that Patricia Lie, its vice president of finance and administration, has resigned effective Dec. 31.