NEW YORK – OraSure Technologies reported after the close of the market on Wednesday that its first quarter 2023 revenues more than doubled year over year and achieved a record for the Bethlehem, Pennsylvania-based diagnostics maker.
The revenue gains were driven by its InteliSwab rapid COVID-19 diagnostic products, which increased more than fivefold to $118.3 million from $22.1 million year over year. Sales for its COVID-19 molecular products, meanwhile, declined from $8.9 million to $155,000 year over year, and core molecular products fell 28 percent to $12.9 million from $17.9 million a year ago, while molecular services revenues were down 20 percent to $1.4 million from $1.7 million. Core diagnostics revenues rose 50 percent to $17.1 million from $11.4 million in Q1 2022.
Overall, its revenues were $155.0 million for Q1 2023 versus $67.7 million for the first quarter of 2022 and well above the consensus Wall Street estimate of $126.6 million.
In the recently completed quarter, "we made progress on our product pipeline as we work to expand our infectious disease and sexual health portfolio of assays and to extend our leadership in molecular products," OraSure President and CEO Carrie Eglinton Manner said in a statement.
The firm signed three new molecular partnerships, which Eglinton Manner said makes it "increasingly confident in the long-term trajectory" of its molecular portfolio.
Those deals include a collaboration with Ziwig, a French biotech company commercializing a saliva-based miRNA assay called Endotest to diagnose endometriosis; a partnership with Novozymes to provide a full service offering in support of their BiomeFx personalized health microbiome test; and a commercial collaboration with nRichDX to validate and co-promote products for liquid biopsy applications using first-void urine samples collected by OraSure's Colli-Pee urine collection device.
Also during the quarter, OraSure delivered the first OraQuick HIV Self Tests under the "Let's Stop HIV Together" program in partnership with Emory University and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It also completed a transition to new packaging and labeling for InteliSwab, which is expected to drive per-test cost savings of approximately $.50, including the impact from lower shipping costs based upon the smaller packaging that is expected to reduce total truckloads by approximately 50 percent.
OraSure had net Q1 income of $27.2 million, or $.37 per share, for the recently completed quarter compared to a net loss of $19.9 million, or $.28 per share, a year ago. Non-GAAP EPS for Q1 2023 was $.47 and beat the consensus Wall Street estimate of $.14 per share.
The company ended Q1 with $90.2 million in cash and cash equivalents and $22.2 million in short-term investments.
OraSure restructured its business in Q4 last year, eliminating certain roles at the company and instituting cost-saving measures aimed at $15 million in annual savings. Part of those measures include closing its overseas production operation as part of a broader strategy to consolidate manufacturing. It also cut 11 percent of its non-production workforce in the first quarter, as near-term COVID-19 test sales have begun to taper.
OraSure issued Q2 2023 revenue guidance of $62 million to $67 million. Given lower April ordering activity from the US government in respect to a school testing program, OraSure guided for InteliSwab revenue of $25 million to $30 million in the second quarter.
OraSure shares on the Nasdaq were up approximately 10 percent in Thursday morning trading at $7.75.