Sequenom expects more tests early in 2010
Elizabeth Slowik

Sequenom Inc. plans to launch two more tests early in 2010, Interim CEO Harry F. Hixson Jr. said in a conference call Monday.

 The Sequenom Center for Molecular Medicine, located in the Cook-DeVos Center for Health Sciences in Grand Rapids, was expected to be the site where those tests would be processed, the San Diego-based company indicated earlier this year.

 “We expect to launch the RhD and gender determination tests late in the first quarter or early in the second quarter in 2010,” Hixson said. “These tests and the associated data and results were not impacted by the data mishandling that affect our T21 (Down syndrome) program.”

 Hixson also told analysts that it is too early to assess the market’s reaction to and financial impact of the SensiGene CF Carrier Screening Test, used to detect cystic fibrosis in children and adults, which was launched in September.

 In April, Sequenom announced that employees had mishandled clinical test data for its flagship test under development, which would detect Down syndrome through a maternal blood test rather than amniocentesis.

 Since that time, the company conducted a five-month investigation and a slate of the leadership team either resigned or was fired. The company is facing a host of lawsuits and investigations by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in southern California and NASDAQ.

 Sequenom last year purchased the Grand Rapids lab from the Van Andel Institute and Spectrum Health.

 In its financial results, Sequenom reported total third quarter revenue of $9.2 million, compared to $11.6 million in the third quarter of 2008. The company posted a net loss for the third quarter of $14.9 million, or 24 cents per share, compared to $10.4 million, or 18 cents per share, for last year’s third quarter.

 For the first nine months of 2009, Sequenom reported new loss of $52.6 million, or 86 cents per share, compared with $28.7 million, or 57 cents per share, in the same period of 2008.

The company reported that as of Sept. 30, it had cash, cash equivalents and short-term marketable securities of $50.1 million, plus $7.2 million in receivables.