Molecular testing sales lift Myriad to 1Q profit

SALT LAKE CITY - Myriad Genetics Inc. said Tuesday it swung to a profit in the fiscal first quarter due to surging sales in its molecular diagnostics business, which includes tests to assess patients' risk of getting cancers of the breast, ovaries or colon.

For the three months ended Sept. 30, Myriad reported profit of $14.5 million, or 30 cents per share, compared with a year-ago loss of $8 million, or 18 cents per share.

Revenue surged 53 percent to $73.7 million from $48.3 million, with revenue from its molecular diagnostics unit up 52 percent to nearly $70 million.

The results easily beat the average estimates of analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters, who had forecast profit of 14 cents per share on $70.4 million in revenue.

Gross margins improved, and the company said revenue from all five molecular diagnostics product lines grew 45 percent or more. In addition to cancer risk analysis, the company also makes tests to determine genetic susceptibility to the skin cancer melanoma, and to help doctors assess what kind of drug doses are appropriate.

Research and other revenue from its pharmaceutical business, which Myriad is planning to spin off into a separate company, edged up to $3.7 million from $2.2 million. Myriad is developing Azixa, a Phase II drug candidate for brain tumors; experimental AIDS drug Vivecon and cancer drugs.

The company said costs held steady, as greater sales costs were canceled out by lower research and development spending.

In afternoon trading, Myriad stock jumped $9.20, or 15 percent, to $71.33, and reached a seven-year high of $71.94.

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