NEW YORK (360Dx) – Chembio Diagnostics said after the close of the market on Thursday that its fourth quarter revenues grew 40 percent year over year.
For the three months ended Dec. 31, 2017, the company posted total revenues of $6.0 million, up from $4.3 million in the year-ago period. Product sales rose to $4.9 million from $3.2 million; licensing and royalty revenues were down to $263,902 from $315,835; and R&D, milestones and grant revenues increased to $854,965 from $712,122.
Its R&D costs ticked up 14 percent to $2.5 million from $2.2 million, while its SG&A spending contracted 5 percent to $2.1 million from $2.2 million.
Chembio posted a net loss of $2.0 million, or $.16 per share, for Q4 2017, compared to a net loss of $2.6 million, or $.21 per share, in Q4 2016.
In December, the company said that it planned to submit a premarket approval application to the US Food and Drug Administration for an HIV-syphilis test. It also inked a collaboration with AstraZeneca to develop a point-of-care test for the detection of an undisclosed biomarker. Additionally, Chembion said it received a commitment from Bio-Manguinhos for the purchase of $8.5 million worth of materials related to its HIV and Leishmania point-of-care immunoassays. And it was awarded a contract from UNICEF for the supply of its point-of-care DPP Zika System.
For full year 2017, the firm recorded total revenues of $24.0 million, up 34 percent from $17.9 million in 2016. Product sales grew to $19.3 million from $13.7 million, while license and royalty revenues rose to $741,534 from $449,685. R&D, milestone and grant revenues grew to about $4.0 million from $3.7 million.
Chembio's R&D spending in 2017 was up 2 percent to $8.6 million from $8.4 million, while its SG&A costs climbed 18 percent to $9.0 million from $7.6 million.
The firm had a net loss of $6.4 million, or $.52 per share, for 2017, down from a net loss of $13.3 million, or $1.26 per share, in 2016.
Chembio ended 2017 with $3.8 million in cash and cash equivalents.