Full Press Release Details
Transgenomic Reports
First Quarter Financial Results
call begins at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time today
OMAHA, Neb. (May 5, 2010) - Transgenomic, Inc.
(OTC/BB: TBIO) today reported financial results for the three months ended March
31, 2010, and provided a business update.
First Quarter Financial Results
for the first quarter of 2010 were $5.4 million, an increase of 9 percent
compared with $5.0 million during the comparable period of 2009. Gross profit
was $2.9 million or 53 percent of net sales, compared with gross profit of $2.8
million or 56 percent of net sales during the comparable period of 2009.
The decline in gross margin was due to product mix and higher costs in
Pharmacogenomics Research Services. Operating expenses were $3.3
million during the first quarter of 2010, compared with $3.8 million in the
prior year. The net loss for the first quarter of 2010 was
$324,000 or $0.01 per share, compared with a net loss of $953,000 or $0.02
per share for the first quarter of 2009.
Company generated cash flow from operations in the 2010 first quarter of
$392,000. Cash and cash equivalents increased to $5.9 million as of
March 31, 2010, compared with $5.6 million as of December 31, 2009.
Tuttle, president and chief executive officer of Transgenomic, said, "During the
first quarter of 2010 we continued to refine our platform technologies for use
in drug discovery and diagnostic screening, and I am pleased that in recent
weeks we achieved a number of milestones. In Europe we launched our
new K-RAS test kit, which uses our SURVEYOR Nuclease technology, after
incorporating changes that reduced the test protocol by almost two hours, thus
making the kit more efficient to run and more attractive to our customers. We
also completed our first customer sale for this kit in the second quarter. We
continue to work on additional assays to add to a panel of kits that we are
developing to test for resistance to cancer treatment with epidermal growth
factor receptor inhibitors.
completed technical development of our autism test, following rapidly on the
licensing of intellectual property from IntegraGen in February, and we will be
prepared to launch this assay before the end of second quarter as we have
previously noted. This test determines if there is an increased risk of autism
in a newborn with an autistic older biological sibling. Given that
early intervention can have a significant impact on the outcomes for those with
autism, we expect demand for this test to be high. We believe this represents a
significant market opportunity for our molecular lab business. In addition to
performing this assay in our CLIA-certified laboratory and selling the assay
through our field sales organization, we will be cooperating with IntegraGen to
aggressively market this assay.
continued to work on developing our COLD-PCR technology, which is able to locate
genetic mutations with sensitivity as much as 100-fold greater enrichment than
competing technologies. We currently have three projects using COLD-PCR to
detect low-level mutations in key cancer genes in blood, with the future
expectation that this technology can be used to develop companion diagnostics
for selecting the appropriate drug for patients and vice versa based on testing
mutations in their blood rather than in the tumors directly. We recently
reported demonstrating 100 percent concordance between our mutation results
obtained in plasma and the matched tumor K-RAS genotype, and continue our work
developing SURVEYOR-based mutation kits for other key resistance conferring
mutations in B-RAF and other EGFR pathway genes, as well as beginning
development for detecting mutations in the master regulating protein
p53. We believe that as we further develop these assays and add
COLD-PCR technology to them that we will increase our pharmaceutical company
discovery and clinical trial project numbers and revenue, and make an important
contribution to the field of personalized medicine."
on first quarter instrument sales, Mr. Tuttle went on to say, "Our instrument
business net sales increased 12 percent year-over-year, and although they were
not as strong as they were in the fourth quarter, when the timing of several OEM
instrument shifted from the third quarter to the fourth, we are pleased with our
efforts and the sale of five OEM and four WAVE instruments in the
management will host a conference call to discuss first quarter 2010 financial
results and answer questions beginning at 5:00 p.m. Eastern time today. To
access the call via telephone, please dial (866) 625-0328 from the U.S. and Canada
or (702) 224-9777 for international participants. The call also will be
broadcast live over the Internet. To listen to the webcast, please log onto the
Company's Investor Relations web page at http://www.transgenomic.com/events.asp?id=6
and follow the instructions. An archived webcast of the call will be available
for 30 days. Investors can listen to a replay via telephone until 11:59 p.m.
Eastern time on Friday, May 7, 2010 by dialing (800) 642-1687 (domestic) or (706)
645-9291 (international) and entering conference ID number
Inc. (www.transgenomic.com
) is a global biotechnology company specializing in high sensitivity genetic
variation and mutation analysis, providing products and services in DNA mutation
detection and discovery for clinical research, clinical molecular diagnostics
and pharmacogenomics analyses. Its product offerings include the WAVE Systems
and associated consumables specifically designed for use in genetic variation
detection and single- and double-strand DNA/RNA analysis and purification. With
broad applicability to genetic research, over 1,475 systems have been shipped to
customers in more than 30 countries. The SURVEYOR Mutation
Detection Kits and SURVEYOR Check-It Kit provide reagents and protocols for high
sensitivity detection of mutations in DNA. In addition, HANABI automated
chromosome harvesting systems improve laboratory productivity with consistent
quality compared with manual methods for cytogenetic analyses. Service offerings
include the Transgenomic Molecular Laboratory, which provides reference
laboratory services specializing in molecular diagnostics including
Mitochondrial Disorders, Oncology and Hematology, Molecular Pathology and
Inherited Diseases. Transgenomic Pharmacogenomics Services is a CRO for
pharmacogenomic, translational research and clinical trials.
statements in this press release constitute "forward-looking statements" of
Transgenomic within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
of 1995, which involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors
that may cause actual results to be materially different from any future
results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such statements.
Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, those with respect
to management's current views and estimates of future economic circumstances,
industry conditions, company performance and financial results, including the
ability of the Company to grow its involvement in the diagnostic products and