Original from: Genomeweb

Veracyte reported after the close of the market on Monday that its fourth quarter revenues nearly doubled year over year.

For the three months ended Dec. 31, 2021, the South San Francisco, California-based genomics diagnostics firm posted $67.3 million in revenues, up from $34.5 million a year ago and above analysts' average estimate of $61.8 million.

Testing revenues rose about 70 percent to $53.4 million from $31.5 million in the same period last year. Product revenues, which include sales of the Prosigna breast cancer prognostic assay and nCounter Flex instruments, were up about 4 percent at $2.8 million in Q4 compared to $2.7 million a year ago. Veracyte's biopharmaceutical revenues skyrocketed to $11.2 million in Q4 from $343,000 in the year-ago quarter.

During a call discussing the firm's financial results, Veracyte Executive VP and CFO Rebecca Chambers said that product revenues were affected by a sequential dip in sales of the Prosigna breast cancer assay due to COVID-19-related challenges, with approximately 2,000 test kits sold in Q4. 

Veracyte's biopharmaceutical revenues skyrocketed, meanwhile, to $11.2 million in Q4 from $343,000 in the year-ago quarter. Chambers said that this increase reflects the company's first full quarter recognizing revenue from its acquisition of HalioDx, as well as a $4 million milestone payment tied to the availability of the Percepta nasal swab test in its CLIA lab. 

According to the company, test volume during the quarter was 22,300 tests, an increase of about 70 percent over Q4 2020.

Chambers said that over 12,000 Afirma (thyroid), Envisia (lung disease) and Percepta (lung cancer) Genomic Classifier tests were reported in the quarter, with the newly acquired Decipher prostate assay contributing approximately 7,700 more.

"Our business continued to perform well in the fourth quarter, despite facing unanticipated COVID-related headwinds," Veracyte CEO Marc Stapley said in a statement. He called 2021 a "pivotal year" for the company as its acquisitions of Decipher and HalioDx have come to position the firm to achieve its vision of becoming a global diagnostics leader. 

"We look forward to building on this progress in 2022 with key milestones to support our near- and long-term growth," he added.

The company's net loss for Q4 was $10.5 million, or $.15 per share, compared to $8.0 million, or $.14 per share, in Q4 2020, beating the consensus Wall Street estimate of a loss per share of $.16.

Veracyte's R&D expenses totaled $10.3 million in Q4, more than double the $4.6 million it spent in the year-ago quarter. According to Chambers, this was driven primarily by the addition of the HalioDx R&D organization. The firm's SG&A expenses rose about 61 percent to $41.1 million from $25.6 million, driven by continued investment in the firm's urology commercial team, the addition of the HalioDx operations, and acquisition-related costs.

For full-year 2021, Veracyte's revenues jumped 87 percent to $219.5 million from $117.5 million in 2020, beating analysts' average estimate of $213.8 million.

Testing revenues for 2021 increased to $188.2 million from $102.0 million a year ago. Product revenues bumped up to $11.5 million from $9.8 million, while biopharmaceutical revenues more than tripled to $19.9 million from $5.7 million.

The firm's full-year test volume was 78,565 tests, up 77 percent over the prior year.

Veracyte's R&D costs for 2021 rose 73 percent to $29.8 million from $17.2 million in 2020, while its SG&A spending more than doubled at $181.2 million compared to $89.1 million the prior year.

The firm's 2021 net loss rose to $75.6 million, or $1.11 per share, from a net loss of $34.9 million, or $.66 per share, in 2020. This also beat the Wall Street estimate of a loss per share of $1.14.

Veracyte finished 2021 with $173.2 million in cash and cash equivalents.

For full-year 2022, the firm said it expects to record between $260 million and $275 million in revenues, representing year-over-year growth of 18 percent to 25 percent.

Source: Veracyte Revenues Almost Double in Q4