NEW YORK – Lucid Diagnostics on Monday reported a sixfold year-over-year increase in second quarter revenues, all from its EsoGuard esophageal precancer screening test, yet the firm missed analysts' expectations on the top line.
Revenues for the quarter ended June 30 amounted to $976,000 compared to $159,000 in the year-ago quarter and were all related to the firm's EsoGuard DNA test. Wall Street analysts, on average, had predicted $1.2 million in revenues.
"I am very pleased with the excellent progress Lucid has made on multiple fronts during the second quarter and recent weeks, specifically the progress made related to EsoGuard's clinical data," Lishan Aklog, the firm's CEO and chairman, said in a statement. "We are now fully armed with a complete body of clinical data and well positioned for our final push towards broad coverage and reimbursement to drive EsoGuard revenue and revenue growth."
During the quarter, the New York-based company, which maintains a clinical laboratory in California and is a subsidiary of PAVmed, performed 3,147 commercial EsoGuard tests, a 44 percent increase from Q2 2023 and a new record for the firm.
The company noted that it held a "productive meeting" with CMS Medicare administrative contractor Palmetto GBA's MolDx program during the quarter about clinical data for EsoGuard.
EsoGuard is a sequencing-based DNA methylation assay performed on surface esophageal cells that quantifies 31 methylation sites on two genes, vimentin and cyclin A1. In a clinical study published in 2018, the test showed greater than 90 percent sensitivity and specificity for detecting esophageal precancer and cancer.
Lucid's net loss for Q2 was $11.0 million, or $.23 per share, compared to a net loss of $11.4 million, or $.27 per share, a year ago. Its adjusted net loss was $.20 per share, beating analysts' consensus estimate of a net loss of $.22 per share.
The firm's SG&A expenses were approximately $7.8 million in Q2 versus $6.5 million in Q2 2023, while its R&D expenses dropped to $1.2 million from $1.7 million year over year.
During the quarter, the firm raised $11.6 million in gross proceeds in a Series B-1 convertible preferred stock sale. It ended Q2 with $24.9 million in cash and cash equivalents.
In morning trading on the Nasdaq, Lucid Diagnostics' stock was up more than 2 percent at $.81 per share.