Original from Genomeweb

Biocept reported after the close of the market on Monday that its second quarter revenues increased dramatically year over year, as the cancer diagnostics firm continued its provision of COVID-19 testing.

For the three months ended June 30, the San Diego-based liquid biopsy firm had $12 million in revenues compared to the $917,471 it saw during the same quarter last year. This was primarily made up of COVID-19 testing revenue with only about $926,000 earned from oncology testing.

The company also brought in about $33,000 from development services and $34,000 from distributed products, which include its Target Selector RUO kits, CEE-Sure blood collection tubes, and payments from Aegea for services associated with the development of a COVID-19 assay.

Biocept accessioned 102,172 commercial samples during the second quarter of 2021 compared to 1,306 during Q2 2020. 101,982 of these were billable samples, up from 985 in the same period last year.

CEO Michael Nall said in a statement that the quarterly revenues reflect an anticipated slow-down in COVID-19 testing volumes during Q2 as vaccination rates increased. However, the new increase of cases due to the Delta variant has since led to an uptick in Q3.

Biocept is also expecting an increase in testing volume in coming weeks as customers in the California community college system begin testing students who have returned to in-person classes.

Considering that COVID-19 testing is not likely to be part of its business forever, Nall added that the firm is encouraged by recent uptake of its CNSide assay for assessment of cerebral spinal fluid samples to determine if tumors have metastasized to the central nervous system. He said volume for that product continues to grow with orders from more than 30 academic institutions, the majority of which have become repeat customers.

"Finally, we are pleased with Medicare's decision to provide coverage and high-value payment for our Target Selector breast cancer assay that detects the HER2 biomarker. Testing for the HER2 biomarker is among the most important sources of information when making treatment decisions for patients diagnosed with breast cancer and is among our most frequently ordered assay profiles," Nall said.

Biocept's Q2 net loss was $1.8 million, or $.14 per share, compared to $6.5 million, or $.51 per share, in Q2 2020. The calculation of per-share loss in the recently completed quarter was based on 13.5 million weighted-average shares outstanding versus about 12.7 million in the year-ago quarter.

The firm's quarterly R&D expenses dropped 31 percent to $1.1 million from $1.6 million, mainly due to decreased facility costs and lower R&D allocations. Its SG&A expenses rose about 63 percent to $5.2 million from $3.2 million, reflecting both headcount additions and higher sales commissions associated with its higher revenues.

Biocept finished the quarter with $14.4 million in cash and cash equivalents.

Source: Biocept Q2 Revenues Continue COVID-19-Driven Spike | Genomeweb