Adaptive Biotechnologies announced its first quarter earnings Wednesday, two months after laying off 12% of its workforce.
The public Seattle company pulled in $38.6 million in revenue, up 0.5% from the year-ago quarter.
In early March, Adaptive laid off about 100 employees as it restructured its business to focus on two key areas, immune medicine and its products and services to detect minimal residual disease in blood cancers. The company also recently hired a new chief financial officer, Tycho Peterson, who was previously managing direct or life science tools and diagnostics at J.P. Morgan Chase.
“I am encouraged by the solid momentum across both business areas as we optimize our resource allocation to capitalize on the multiple opportunities ahead,” Adaptive CEO and co-founder Chad Robins said in a statement.
The company’s restructure occurred against a backdrop of declining stock values overall in the biotech sector, and only six months after the company cut the ribbon on a new headquarters. Adaptive’s stock value at market close Wednesday was $9.25, down from its high in February 2021 of nearly $70.
The company also highlighted its data on its T-Detect test for Lyme disease, from a study of 990 subjects. Adaptive said its test is twice as sensitive for detecting the disease as current tests (54% vs 30% detection), and that it expects the test to be made available during the 2022 Lyme season, which typically peaks in the summer.
The company’s revenue last quarter from its minimal residual disease operations was $17.8 million, a 3% decrease from the first quarter last year, and $20.8 million for immune medicine, a 4% increase.
Operating expenses were $101.7 million for the quarter, compared to $79.7 million the first quarter of last year, a 28% increase. Net loss was $62.8 million, compared to $40.6 million for the same period last year.
Adaptive expects revenue for 2022 to be in the range of $185 to $195 million and on March 31 the company had $500.7 million in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities.
The company also highlighted some key milestones for the quarter:
- Increased testing volume 45% over the first quarter last year for the company’s clonoSEQ minimal residual disease assay.
- Achieved $3 million in milestone revenue from a biopharma partner who used Adaptive’s minimal residual disease assay to support its drug approval, and expanded an agreement with an existing partner using the technology.
- Entered a new collaboration with Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies to map T cell responses as part of the pharma giant’s vaccine program for respiratory syncytial virus.