NanoString Reports 35 Percent Loss, Remains Positive, Ramps Up Hiring
May 6, 2015
By Alex Keown, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
SEATTLE -- NanoString Technologies Inc. saw a loss of $14.9 million on total revenue of $11.9 million in the first quarter, the company reported this morning.
During the same period last year, the company reported a loss of $11 million on $8.8 million in, a loss growth of more than 35 percent this quarter.
Losses were 81 cents per share, 23 cents greater than analyst estimates of 58 cents per share. While the company’s revenue numbers did increase over the past year, they still fell short of Wall Street’s expectation by $490,000.
Despite those losses, company officials maintained a buoyant outlook for the coming year. In a statement, Brad Gray, NanoString’s president and chief executive officer, said the company made “notable progress” toward meeting strategic objectives the company set for 2015.
“This includes intensifying our focus on oncology, deepening our relationships with biopharmaceutical companies, further penetrating the clinical laboratory market, and expanding our addressable markets through product launches,” Gray said.
Gray said the company’s nCounter technology continues to show progress as a leading platform for tumor profiling. Coupled with the introduction of the platform’s combined genomic and proteomic capability, as well as new products focused on immuno-oncology.
The nCounter Analysis System is designed to be a cost-effective way to profile the gene expression and miRNAs, or copy number variations, simultaneously. The platform is designed to facilitate basic research and translational medicine applications, including biomarker discovery and validation, the company said.
Gray said 2015 remains promising, which will build on the growth the company saw in 2014, including the hiring of about 100 new employees. The hiring spree brought the total number of employees to about 270 people, the Business Journal noted. Additionally the company expanded its footprint with additional office space, all of which were partly responsible for the company’s losses.
Even with failure to meet expectations, NanoString said that the losses do not change its overall financial outlook for the year. The company said it still expects revenues between $58 and $61 million in total revenue, with operating losses between $44 and $49 million.
NanoString’s stock was slightly down this morning, trading at $11.99 per share. The stock closed at $12.05 per share on Wednesday. NanoString shares have declined 14 percent since the beginning of the year and 27 percent over the pas year, the Associated Press said.
Earlier this week NanoString announced a partnership with Cancer Immunotherapy Trials Network to discover biomarkers that predict clinical outcomes for cancer immunotherapies, both as single agents and in combination. The collaboration will involve the systematic use of NanoString's nCounter Analysis System and PanCancer Immune Profiling technology in multiple prospective CITN clinical trials, the company said. NanoString's immuno-oncology targeted panels will be used to analyze blood and tissue biopsies at multiple time-points during immunotherapy clinical trials.
Last month the company announced three new products for nCounter Analysis System, including the Immuno-Oncology RNA:Protein Profiling Panel, a single assay that enables simultaneous analysis of gene and protein expression, the PanCancer Progression Panel, and the PanCancer Mouse Immune Profiling Panel.
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