Some big changes are in the works at Paradigm Genetics, the company disclosed Monday in announcing its quarterly earnings.
“Our transformation from a functional genomics company to a true systems biology company has reached a meaningful inflection point,” said Heinrich Gugger, Paradigm’s president and CEO, in a statement. “As a result, on August 17, 2004, we will unveil a new corporate identity for the Company that reflects this evolution and our strategic direction.
Gugger did not disclose any additional details.
Gugger has been reshaping Paradigm’s products, services and focus since taking over as chief executive officer on July 18 of 2002. He was president of Syngenta Crop Protection before joining Paradigm. Gugger replaced John Ryals, one of the company’s founders, who was ousted in a management showdown. Gugger helped shift the focus of the firm away from plant science to more life science.
Paradigm has won numerous federal and private contracts in his tenure, but the company struggled. Paradigm faced the threat of delisting by Nasdaq in 2003 before landing $7.5 million in financing from Silicon Valley Bank in June of last year. So far in 2004, it has secured numerous grants and contracts.
Paradigm also acquired TissueInformatics, which is based in Pennsylvania, in March as part of its transformation.
The company said it had 30 customers using its technology research platform for gene expression profiling (transcriptomics), biochemical profiling (metabolomics), tissue profiling (pathology) and phenotypic analysis (phenomics). That number is up from just two in two years. Paradigm is also pursuing proprietary product development.
In the earnings statement, Gugger said the company has some $140 million in contracts with $65 million “yet to be recognized.”
Paradigm (Nasdaq: PDGM) reported $6.3 million in revenue for the most recent quarter, a 12 percent increase from a year ago. For the first six months, revenue hit $11.1 million, a 15 percent increase.
Expenses also increased, due in part to new product development, expanded marketing efforts, and the acquisition of TissueInformatics in March, the company said.
Paradigm lost $3.6 million, or 10 cents a share, for the quarter, the same as a year ago. For the six-month period, the loss was down $400,000 from 2003 to $7.3 million.
Its stock was trading at 53 cents in morning trading.
“We are excited about the successes we are seeing as we build our expertise in systems biology and expand our offerings to a diverse customer portfolio of both human health and agriculture companies,” Gugger said. “Many of first time Paradigm Array Labs (PAL) customers have seen the value of the gene expression profiling component of our systems biology platform and become repeat customers.
“Other customers are currently assessing how our technology can best complement their internal research and development efforts,” he added. “We expect that these assessments will lead to more and larger long-term collaborations.”
Paradigm reported having $10.7 million in cash and equivalents as of June 30.
Paradigm Genetics: www.paradigmgenetics.com
