NEW YORK (360Dx) – T2 Biosystems reported after the market closed on Tuesday that its first quarter revenues rose 144 percent, beating the consensus Wall Street estimate.
For the three months ended March 31, 2018, the company posted revenues of $2.3 million, compared to $941,000 in the same period the year before. The analysts' average estimate was $1.5 million.
Product revenue jumped to $1.0 million from $631,000 in Q1 2017, driven by T2Candida Panel and T2Dx instrument sales. Meanwhile, the company reported research revenues of $1.3 million, skyrocketing from $310,000 in Q1 2017. T2 Bio said it secured five new placements of T2Dx instruments in the first quarter and four contracts with access to 10 new hospitals and an additional 48,000 high-risk patients.
In a conference call with analysts after the release of earnings, T2 Bio CEO John McDonough said that as of March 31, 2018, the firm has "70 instruments placed or contracted to be placed, covering 162 hospitals in the US and worldwide."
McDonough also noted that the firm is still anticipating potential US Food and Drug Administration clearance of its T2Bacteria panel in Q2 2018. He explained that "initial efforts of the expanded T2Bacteria panel are underway, as part of our collaboration with CARB-X ... [which] will aim to identify 20 or more additional infectious species in and resistance genes directly from whole blood."
The firm reported a net loss of $12.9 million, or $0.36 per share for the quarter, compared to a net loss of $14.7 million, or $0.48 per share, for Q1 2017. The consensus Wall Street estimate was for a loss of $0.37 per share for the quarter.
T2 Bio's R&D costs in Q1 2018 dropped nearly 28 percent to $4.7 million from $6.5 million, while its SG&A dipped around 2 percent to $5.8 million from $5.9 million.
The firm finished the quarter with $29.7 million in cash and cash equivalents.
For Q2, T2 Bio said total revenues are expected to be in the range of $3.0 million to $3.3 million, while product revenues are expected to be in the range of $1.0 million to $1.3 million.
The company said it expects to secure placements of at least eight T2Dx instruments in the second quarter by closing at least six new contracts. It also envisions placement rates to increase significantly in the second half of 2017 based on the FDA clearance of T2Bacteria.
In early afternoon trading, T2 Bio's was up nearly 9 percent at $6.69 on the Nasdaq.