NGeneBio's Q2 revenue up 89% year-on-year

NGeneBio, a Korean next-generation sequencing (NGS) precision diagnostic platform company, said Friday that its consolidated revenue for the second quarter reached approximately 2.03 billion won ($1.49 million). 

This represents a 133 percent increase from the 870 million won recorded in the previous quarter and an 89 percent rise from the 890 million won reported in the same period last year. Despite this growth, the company reported a net loss of about 2.9 billion won.

The surge in second-quarter sales was primarily attributed to the inclusion of revenue from TOPLAB, a clinical laboratory improvement amendments (CLIA) certified facility based in New Jersey, the U.S., which NGeneBio acquired in April. The acquisition contributed 980 million won in sales, while revenue from the company's precision diagnostic products increased by 60 percent year-on-year to 770 million won.

“The primary drivers of growth were the completion of the TOPLAB acquisition, which allowed us to fully resume business operations, as well as the increased demand for our hybridization capture-based DNA pane, ONCOaccuPanel, which detects cancer genes both domestically and internationally,” said an NGeneBio official. “Additionally, our NGS-based diagnostic method, HEMEaccuTest, which identifies gene variants associated with malignant tumors in blood, also contributed significantly.”

The net loss was largely due to costs associated with the acquisition and integration of TOPLAB, high testing expenses, research and development investments in precision diagnostic products, and expansion into overseas markets such as the United Arab Emirates and India, the company said.

Looking ahead, NGeneBio plans to enhance its precision testing capabilities through TOPLAB by introducing a variety of new testing services, including dual Covid-19 and influenza A/B tests and NGS-based cancer precision diagnostics. 

NGeneBio said that although TOPLAB is located in New Jersey, it is certified to receive consignment from most states in the U.S., making it easy to expand consignment testing in neighboring states such as New York and Pennsylvania.

"CLIA labs like TOPLAB provides regulatory flexibility, making them an accessible gateway to U.S. market entry,” the NGeneBio official said. The official also pointed out that this flexibility is a key reason why many domestic diagnostic firms are acquiring CLIA labs to facilitate their U.S. expansion.

NGeneBio CEO Choi Dae-chul anticipates significant sales growth from TOPLAB and other NGS diagnostic products both domestically and abroad. He also said that NGeneBio will "continue to reduce costs and restructure to enhance its performance."