NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – GeneNews reported today an 81 percent year over year drop in its fourth quarter revenues, which the company attributed to ongoing changes in how it bills for its ColonSentry colorectal cancer blood test and other diagnostics.
For the three-month period ended Dec., 31, 2017, GeneNews' revenues fell to $53,000 from $286,000 in the same period the year before, according to a regulatory filing. In a statement, GeneNews Chairman and CEO James Howard-Tripp called the Q4 revenues "disappointing and reflective of the changes we are currently making in our billing processes.
"While not yet reflected in the company's financial results, we estimate our current outstanding billings at approximately $4 million and continue to anticipate that our recognized revenue will begin to grow in the months ahead," he said.
To help drive growth, GeneNews said that it has been in discussions with self-insured organizations to use its cancer risk stratification tests in high-risk workforces. It is also advancing the MyCancerRisk Data Analytics platform for tracking and analyzing aggregate cancer screening data, which is aimed at large healthcare systems and self-insured organizations that want to monitor compliance with cancer screening, risk stratify their patient populations, and improve early intervention.
The Markham, Ontario-based firm said that general and administrative costs grew 78 percent year over year to $971,000 from $547,000, while the cost of goods sold rose 23 percent to $312,000 from $253,000.
GeneNews' net loss in the fourth quarter was $386,000, or $.00 per share, versus a year-ago loss of $1 million, or $.02 per share.
For the full year 2017, GeneNews' revenues dropped 61 percent to $412,000 from $1.1 million.
Net loss for the year fell to $2.9 million, or $.03 per share, from $5.9 million, or $.09 per share, in 2016. GeneNews attributed the decrease in part to a $1.7 million change in revaluation of warrants and a $1.2 million change in fair value of notes payable.
General and administrative costs in 2017 rose about 8 percent to $4.2 million from $3.9 million, while the cost of goods sold fell slightly to $1.4 million from $1.5 million.
At the end of 2017, GeneNews had cash and cash equivalents totaling $41,224. The company said that it is currently negotiating up to C$4 million ($3.1 million) in immediate financing with up to C$3 million in a follow-on financing under an arrangement with private equity firm Milost Global.