On February 27, 2020 Accelerate Diagnostics, Inc. (Nasdaq: AXDX) reported financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2019 (Press release, ACCELERATED MEDICAL DIAGNOSTICS, FEB 27, 2020, View Source [SID1234554938]).
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"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 View Source
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.