Accelerate Diagnostics Reports Fourth Quarter 2019 Financial Results

TUCSON, Ariz., Feb. 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Accelerate Diagnostics, Inc. (Nasdaq: AXDX) today announced financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2019.

“Our contracted instrument trajectory continued over the course of 2019 as we doubled our global contracted instrument base by signing 304 instruments, including 137 units during the fourth quarter. Our full-year revenue was short of expectations as multi-site customers in the U.S. have taken longer than anticipated to go live and begin generating consumable revenue,” said Jack Phillips, president and chief executive officer of Accelerate Diagnostics, Inc. “One of my initial areas of focus was to evaluate and re-engineer our go-live process, and I am confident the resulting improvements will help relieve our 255 U.S. instrument backlog and make the process quicker and more predictable. For clinically live accounts, I am encouraged that annual annuities are approximately $45k, proving to be predictable, and these customers are enthusiastic about the outcomes they are realizing.”

Fourth Quarter 2019 Highlights

• Added 137 net new commercially contracted instruments, compared to 133 in the fourth quarter of 2018.
• Net sales of $3.5 million, compared to $1.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2018, or 94% year-over-year growth.
• Gross margin was 44% for the quarter, compared to 29% in the fourth quarter of 2018. This increase was the result of lower consumable production costs per unit as production volumes increase. Certain perishable raw materials exceeded expiration and required disposal in the quarter. Excluding the impact of this charge, gross margin for the fourth quarter was 51%.
• Research and development (R&D) costs for the quarter were $6.2 million, compared to $6.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2018. We expected this spend to remain relatively flat on a year-over-year basis, as our R&D programs remain consistent.
• Selling, general, and administrative expenses for the quarter were $13.6 million, compared to $13.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2018. These expenses remained relatively unchanged on a year-over-year basis.
• Net loss was $21.3 million in the fourth quarter, or $0.39 per share, which included $3.2 million in non-cash stock-based compensation expense.
• Net cash used in the quarter was $13.5 million, and the company ended the quarter with total cash, investments, and cash equivalents of $108.5 million.

Full Year 2019 Highlights

• Added 304 net new commercially contracted instruments year to date, compared to 202 in 2018.
• Net sales of $9.3 million, compared to $5.7 million in 2018, or 63% year over year growth.
• Gross margin was 47%, compared to 44% in 2018. This increase was the result of lower consumable production costs per unit as production volumes increase. Certain perishable raw materials exceeded expiration and required disposal in the fourth quarter. Excluding the impact of this charge, gross margin for the year was 53%.
• Selling, general, and administrative expenses were $51.9 million, compared to $55.2 million in 2018. This decrease was driven by lower stock-based compensation expense in the current year.
• Research and development (R&D) costs were $25.3 million, compared to $27.6 million in 2018. We expected this spend to remain relatively flat on a year-over-year basis, as our R&D programs remain consistent.
• Net loss was $84.3 million, or $1.55 per share, which included $12.6 million in non-cash stock-based compensation expense.
• Net cash used was $58.0 million, and the company ended the year with total cash, investments, and cash equivalents of $108.5 million.

Full financial results for the quarter and year ending December 31, 2019 will be filed on Form 10-K through the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) website at http://www.sec.gov.

Audio Webcast and Conference Call

The company will host a conference call at 4:30PM ET today to review its first quarter results. To listen to the conference call, dial +1.877.883.0383 and enter the conference ID: 2860141. International participants may dial +1.412.902.6506. Please dial in 10 to 15 minutes prior to the start of the conference call. A replay of the call will be available by telephone at +1.877.344.7529 (U.S.) or +1.412.317.0088 (international) using replay code 10138283 until May 19, 2020.

This conference call will also be webcast and can be accessed from the “Investors” section of the company’s website at axdx.com/investors. A replay of the audio webcast will be available until May 19, 2020.

About Accelerate Diagnostics, Inc.

Accelerate Diagnostics, Inc. is an in vitro diagnostics company dedicated to providing solutions for the global challenges of antibiotic resistance and sepsis. The Accelerate Pheno® system and Accelerate PhenoTest® BC kit combine several technologies aimed at reducing the time clinicians must wait to determine the most optimal antibiotic therapy for deadly infections. The FDA cleared system and kit fully automate the sample preparation steps to report phenotypic antibiotic susceptibility results in approximately 7 hours direct from positive blood cultures. Recent external studies indicate the solution offers results 1-2 days faster than existing methods, enabling clinicians to optimize antibiotic selection and dosage specific to the individual patient days earlier.

The “ACCELERATE DIAGNOSTICS” and “ACCELERATE PHENO” and “ACCELERATE PHENOTEST” and diamond shaped logos and marks are trademarks or registered trademarks of Accelerate Diagnostics, Inc.

For more information about the company, its products and technology, or recent publications, visit axdx.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain of the statements made in this press release are forward looking, such as those, among others, about the company’s placement trajectory, our belief that our re-engineered go-live process will make our implementation process quicker and more predictable, thereby relieving our backlog, our belief that annual annuities will average approximately $45,000, our expectation that customers will be enthusiastic about clinical results, and our expectation that R&D expenses will be relatively flat from 2019 to 2020. Actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected or implied in these forward-looking statements. Information about the risks and uncertainties faced by Accelerate Diagnostics is contained in the section captioned “Risk Factors” in the company’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 27, 2020, and in any other reports that the company files with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company’s forward-looking statements could be affected by general industry and market conditions. Except as required by federal securities laws, the company undertakes no obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements to reflect new events, uncertainties or other contingencies.

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SOURCE Accelerate Diagnostics, Inc.

Company Codes: NASDAQ-SMALL:AXDX