Biomerica Inc. appears to still be finding its footing in expanding its contract development and manufacturing services, as seen in its fiscal third-quarter earnings.
The Irvine-based biomedical technology company, which makes diagnostic solutions with a focus on gastrointestinal and inflammatory diseases, last week reported a 12% drop in net sales to $987,000 while net loss widened to $1.31 million from $1.16 million.
Chief Executive Zack Irani attributed the performance to the company’s ongoing transition.
“We are restructuring Biomerica around higher-margin, diagnostically-driven products and a growing Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization services business—and near-term revenue reflects that transition,” Irani said.
The revenue decrease also reflected lower contract manufacturing revenue following the completion of prior customer projects, according to the company.
Shares fell 2% to $2.04 and a $6.2 million market cap in the trading session following the earnings announcement (Nasdaq: BMRA).
Biomerica is known for making tests for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
Its InFoods IBS test, currently available as a laboratory developed test, uncovers what foods trigger bloating, abdominal pain and other IBS symptoms in a person using a dinger stick blood sample and generates personalized results.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services set a national Medicare payment rate of $300 for InFoods this year. Biomerica said that it’s still working to get Medicare coverage for the test.
In Europe, revenue during the third quarter grew 45% to $287,000.
The company in March announced that it received its first order from “one of the largest clinical laboratory chains operating across Europe” for its hp+detect test, which picks up on a bacteria responsible for a range of issues such as peptic ulcer disease and indigestion, as well as gastric cancer.
