Biodesix losses grow with pivot from COVID-19 testing

BOULDER — Biodesix Inc. (Nasdaq: BDSX), a life-sciences company that specializes in developing tools to detect lung disease, saw its losses mount in the fourth quarter of 2022 as the company moves away from its recent focus on COVID-19 testing and back toward its core offerings.

Sales in the most-recent period were $9.6 million, an increase of 33% compared with the first quarter of 2021. Biodesix attributes the performance to “continued growth in core lung diagnostic sales, [which was] offset by the expected year-over-year decline in COVID-19 revenue due to the decrease in testing across the year.”

In a prepared statement, Biodesix CEO Scott Hutton said, “It has been a productive year for Biodesix, and I am extremely proud of our team’s performance. 2022 saw a significant increase in adoption of our core lung diagnostics business, growing test volume by 54% and revenue 57% year over year. “

Despite the improved revenues, Biodesix’s net loss in the fourth quarter of 2022 was $20.3 million, compared with a loss of $13.2 million during the same period in 2021. 

The growing loss was due to an “increase in operating expenses,” the company said, which was “primarily from increased sales and marketing expense from the hiring of new sales reps, increased travel-related costs as access to physicians returned to pre-pandemic levels, and increases in other non-employee related costs all resulting from year-over-year growth in core lung diagnostic revenue.”

For the full 2022 fiscal year, Biodesix reported sales of $38.2 million, down 30% year over year. 

The company posted a full-year net loss of $65.4 million in 2022, compared with a loss of $43.1 million the previous year.

Biodesix anticipates generating between $52 million to $55 million in total revenue in 2023

“Our strong performance and positive momentum gives us continued confidence for 2023,” Hutton said.

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