NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Interpace Diagnostics reported on Thursday a 42 percent increase in its fourth quarter revenues on growing sales and reimbursement of its thyroid tests.
For the three-month period ended Dec. 31, Interpace's revenues climbed to $4.4 million from $3.1 million in the same period the year before. Contributing to the increase was the continued expansion of payor coverage for the company's ThyGenX and ThyraMir tests for the diagnosis of thyroid cancer in patients with indeterminate thyroid nodules.
Earlier this month, Interpace announced that four new Blue Cross Blue Shield plans have begun covering the tests, following contracts signed in 2017 with Cigna, Aetna, and others.
Interpace's Q4 net loss was $5 million versus a year-ago profit of $6.3 million. The company reported a  loss per share of $.19 on roughly 26.9 million shares and equivalents outstanding compared with earnings per share of $3.24 on about 1.9 million shares and equivalents outstanding.
"During the year we raised approximately $30 million in capital and eliminated over $9 million of secured debt and royalties to further strengthen our balance sheet, providing the capital needed to keep us on a sustainable path during 2017 and 2018," Interpace President and CEO Jack Stover said in a statement.
R&D spending in the quarter fell 16 percent to $259,000 from $308,000 a year earlier, while SG&A costs rose 17 percent to $4.8 million from $4.1 million as the company built up its commercial operations.
For the full-year 2017, Interpace's revenues were up 21 percent to $15.9 million from $13.1 million. The firm's net loss for the year fell to $12.2 million, or $.77 per share on 15.8 million shares and equivalents outstanding, from $8.3 million, or $4.59 on 1.8 million shares and equivalents outstanding.
Interpace's R&D spending in 2017 was down 6 percent to $1.5 million from $1.6 million, while SG&A expenses fell slightly to $15.8 million from $16 million in 2016.
At the end of 2017, Interpace had cash and cash equivalents totaling $15.2 million.