NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) — Epigenomics reported today an 88 percent year-over-year increase in second quarter revenues amid strong growth in product sales and higher licensing income.
For the three-month period ended June 30, Epigenomics' revenues rose to €462,000 ($535,912) from €246,000 in the same period last year. Product sales — which include the company's US Food and Drug Administration-approved Epi proColon blood-based colorectal cancer screening test — were up nearly 66 percent to €250,000 from €151,000.
Licensing income in the quarter — derived primarily from Chinese commercialization partner BioChain — climbed to €212,000 from €95,000 the year before.
Epigenomics shaved its Q2 net loss to €2.6 million, or €.11, from €4.1 million, or €.18, in the same quarter last year.
R&D spending edged up 7 percent to €1.5 million from €1.4 million, while SG&A costs fell 38 percent to €2.1 million from €3.4 million, reflecting unusually high legal fees in Q2 2017 related to a failed takeover bid by a Chinese private equity firm.
At the end of the second quarter, Berlin-based Epigenomics had cash and cash equivalents totaling €8.6 million.
Looking ahead, Epigenomics said it expects revenues for 2018 to be between €2 million and €4 million.
"While we continue to pursue our objective of Medicare coverage for Epi proColon in the US, we are moving forward with our innovative liver cancer surveillance test," Epigenomics CEO Greg Hamilton said in a statement.
Epigenomics is developing a blood-based liver cancer diagnostic designed to detect promoter methylation of the septin 9 gene — a regulator of cell division and a tumor suppressor — in circulation. The company recently published data showing that its test could detect liver cancer among cirrhosis patients with 90.6 percent sensitivity and 87.2 percent specificity, and had a higher diagnostic accuracy than the widely used diagnostic marker alpha-fetoprotein.
"Based on the recently published excellent clinical data, this new blood test could provide the next major opportunity for our company," Hamilton added. "Obtaining CE mark by year-end will be a key milestone for the product."