Champions Oncology Beats Revenue Guidance for Quarter; Reaffirms Full Year Guidance of 43 – 60% Revenue Growth

On September 9, 2016 Champions Oncology, Inc. (Nasdaq: CSBR), engaged in the development of advanced technology solutions and services to personalize the development and use of oncology drugs, reported its financial results for the first quarter ended July 31, 2016 (Filing, Q1, Champions Oncology, 2016, SEP 9, 2016, View Source [SID:1234515018]).

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First Quarter and Recent Business Highlights:
• First quarter revenue of $3.7 million; significantly above revenue guidance range of $3.25 – $3.5 million
• Reaffirms full year revenue guidance for FY2017 of $16 – $18 million
• Delivered third consecutive quarter of record TOS bookings
• Signed significant AML study with major pharmaceutical company
• Signed second co-clinical trial
• Enrolled first patient in co-clinical trial

Joel Ackerman, Champions Oncology CEO, stated, "we continued to build momentum achieving another quarter of strong revenue growth and delivering our third consecutive quarter of record TOS bookings, setting the stage for continued positive results heading into next quarter.. We have produced this revenue growth while controlling our expenses, putting us on a path to cash flow breakeven by the end of our fiscal year."

Financial Results

For the first quarter of 2017, revenue was $3.7 million, as compared to $2.8 million for the first quarter 2016, an increase of 30%. Total operating expense for the first quarter 2017 was $6.2 million as compared to $5.7 million for the first quarter 2016, an increase of 8.3%.

For the first quarter of 2017 and 2016, Champions reported a loss from operations of $2.5 million and $2.9 million, respectively. Excluding stock-based compensation of $1.1 million and $775,000 for the three months ended July 31, 2016 and 2015, Champions recognized a loss from operations of $1.4 million and $2.1 million, respectively.

Operating Results

Translational Oncology Solutions (TOS):

Exhibit 99.1

TOS revenue was $3.2 million and $2.3 million for the three months ended July 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively, an increase of $900,000 or 35.2%. The increase is due to increased bookings in prior quarters, both in the number and size of the studies, and the addition of new customers.

TOS cost of sales was $2.0 million and $1.6 million for the three months ended July 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively, an increase of $400,000, or 27.1%. For the three months ended July 31, 2016 and 2015, gross margin for TOS was 35.1% and 31.0%, respectively. The increase in TOS cost of sales was due to an increase in TOS studies. The improvement in gross margin was due to higher TOS revenue leveraged off the fixed cost component of the lab and effective management of the variable lab costs.

Personalized Oncology Solutions (POS):

POS revenue was $511,000 and $485,000 for the three months ended July 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively, an increase of $26,000 or 5.4%. The increase is primarily the result of growth in sequencing revenue of $115,000 offset by a decline in implant and drug panel revenue of $29,000 and $60,000, respectively.

POS cost of sales was $474,000 and $661,000 for the three months ended July 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively, a decrease of $187,000, or (28.3%). For the three months ended July 31, 2016 and 2015, gross margin for POS was 7.2% and negative (36.3%), respectively. The improvement is attributed to the increase in higher margin sequencing revenue and aggressively managing our lab costs.

Research and development expense was $1.2 million and $1.1 million for the three months ended July 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively, an increase of $100,000, or 10.1%. The increase is primarily due to an increase in salary expense. Sales and marketing expense for the three months ended July 31, 2016 and 2015 was $925,000 and $1 million, respectively, a decrease of $75,000, or (10.1%). The decrease is due to the consolidation of sales and marketing personnel resources of the POS and TOS division. General and administrative expense was $1.5 million and $1.3 million for the three months ended July 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively, an increase of $200,000, or 16.5%. The increase is due to an increase of $354,000 in stock compensation expense.