On May 9, 2023 Guardant Health, Inc. (Nasdaq: GH), a leading precision oncology company focused on helping conquer cancer globally through use of its proprietary tests, vast data sets and advanced analytics, reported financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2023 (Press release, Guardant Health, MAY 9, 2023, View Source [SID1234631312]).

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First Quarter 2023 Financial Highlights

Revenue of $128.7 million for the first quarter of 2023, an increase of 34% over the first quarter of 2022
Reported 39,100 tests to clinical customers and 6,150 tests to biopharmaceutical customers in the first quarter of 2023, representing an increase of 45% and 21%, respectively, over the first quarter of 2022
Recent Operating Highlights

Delivered record clinical volumes driven by the FDA approval of Guardant360 CDx for ESR1 mutations in metastatic breast cancer and expanded commercial coverage to more than 300 million lives
Received Medicare coverage for Guardant Response, the first blood-only liquid biopsy for I-O monitoring for all solid tumors

Filed premarket approval (PMA) application for Shield blood-based CRC screening, and FDA review process underway
Presented additional data from ECLIPSE trial at Digestive Disease Week (DDW)
Strengthened leadership team with the appointment of Ines Dahne-Steuber as Chief Operating Officer to drive further operating efficiency and scale, and the promotion of Darya Chudova to Chief Technology Officer to continue innovation of our market-leading technology platform
"We are off to a very strong start with robust clinical volume growth fueled by continued expansion in lung cancer and a step change in breast cancer volumes following our recent FDA approval of Guardant360 CDx in metastatic breast cancer," said Helmy Eltoukhy, co-founder and co-CEO. "With the recent coverage of Guardant Response, we now have full Medicare coverage across our Therapy Selection and MRD product portfolios. This coverage will help drive continued volume growth as we approach breakeven in our Therapy Selection core business and execute on our strategy to be the worldwide leader in precision oncology."

"Each quarter we are making more progress on our goal of developing a new patient-preferred market category in CRC screening. Shield is the first mover in this category that achieved 83% overall CRC sensitivity at 90% specificity in range with other guideline-recommended non-invasive CRC screening tests. Based on this study readout, our team has recently submitted the PMA, and the FDA review is currently underway," said AmirAli Talasaz, co-founder and co-CEO. "Today at DDW, the study investigators presented additional insights for the ECLIPSE trial. Sensitivity of our test at stage I-III was 81% where cure rates are highest, and 72% in detecting localized disease that would most likely be cured through surgical procedures. Based on our ECLIPSE results, we believe that as a longitudinal screening test, taken every three years, Shield will detect nearly all CRCs at a curable stage and will save many lives."

First Quarter 2023 Financial Results

Revenue was $128.7 million for the three months ended March 31, 2023, a 34% increase from $96.1 million for the three months ended March 31, 2022. Precision oncology revenue grew 35%, driven predominantly by an increase in clinical testing volume and biopharma sample volume, which grew 45% and 21%, respectively, over the prior year period. Development services and other revenue increased by 28%, primarily due to revenues earned from our partnership agreements during the three months ended March 31, 2022.

Gross profit, or total revenue less cost of precision oncology testing and cost of development services and other, was $75.6 million for the first quarter of 2023, an increase of $11.5 million from $64.1 million for the corresponding prior year period. Gross margin, or gross profit divided by total revenue, was 59%, as compared to 67% for the corresponding prior year period. Precision oncology gross margin was 60% in the first quarter of 2023, as compared to 64% in the prior year period. The reduction is due to the change in mix between clinical and biopharma revenue, as well as the year over year change in blended clinical ASP due to the increased proportion of volume coming from Reveal, TissueNext and Response. Development services and other gross margin was 48% in the first quarter of 2023, as compared to 89% in the prior year period. The change is due to a one-time cost incurred in the first quarter of 2023 related to one of our partnership agreements and to the inclusion of the cost of processing Shield LDT samples as part of our screening market development activities.

Operating expenses were $209.7 million for the first quarter of 2023, as compared to $187.5 million for the corresponding prior year period, an increase of 12%. Non-GAAP operating expenses were $188.3 million for the first quarter of 2023, as compared to $158.7 million for the corresponding prior year period.

Net loss was $133.5 million for the first quarter of 2023, as compared to $123.2 million for the corresponding prior year period. Net loss per share was $1.30 for the first quarter of 2023, as compared to $1.21 for the corresponding prior year period. Non-GAAP net loss was $108.5 million for the first quarter of 2023, as compared to $93.2 million for the corresponding prior year period. Non-GAAP net loss per share was $1.06 for the first quarter of 2023, as compared to $0.91 for the corresponding prior year period.

Adjusted EBITDA loss was $101.0 million for the first quarter of 2023, as compared to a $86.6 million loss for the corresponding prior year period.

Free cash outflow for the first quarter of 2023 was $82.0 million. Cash, cash equivalents and marketable debt securities were $937.0 million as of March 31, 2023.

2023 Guidance

Guardant Health expects full year 2023 revenue to be in the range of $535 million to $545 million, representing growth of 19% to 21% compared to full year 2022. This compares to its previous guidance range of $525 million to $540 million. Guardant Health continues to expect full year 2023 operating expenses to be below full year 2022, driven by efficiency measures and continued leverage of its existing infrastructure, and free cash outflow to be approximately $350 million in 2023.

Webcast Information

Guardant Health will host a conference call to discuss the first quarter and full year 2023 financial results after market close on Tuesday, May 9, 2023 at 1:30 pm Pacific Time / 4:30 pm Eastern Time. A webcast of the conference call can be accessed at View Source The webcast will be archived and available for replay for at least 90 days after the event.

Non-GAAP Measures

Guardant Health has presented in this release certain financial information in accordance with U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and also on a non-GAAP basis, including non-GAAP cost of precision oncology testing, non-GAAP cost of development services and other, non-GAAP research and development expense, non-GAAP sales and marketing expense, non-GAAP general and administrative expense, non-GAAP loss from operations, non-GAAP net loss, non-GAAP net loss per share, basic and diluted, Adjusted EBITDA, and free cash flow.

We define our non-GAAP measures as the applicable GAAP measure adjusted for the impacts of stock-based compensation and related employer payroll tax payments, changes in estimated fair value of noncontrolling interest liability, contingent consideration, acquisition related expenses, amortization of intangible assets, fair value adjustments on marketable equity securities, impairment of non-marketable securities and other assets, and other non-recurring items.

Adjusted EBITDA is defined as net loss adjusted for interest income; interest expense; other income (expense), net; provision for (benefit from) income taxes; depreciation and amortization expense; stock-based compensation expense and related employer payroll tax payments; changes in estimated fair value of noncontrolling interest liability; adjustments relating to contingent consideration; and, if applicable in a reporting period, acquisition-related expenses, and other non-recurring items. Free cash flow is defined as net cash used in operating activities in the period less purchases of property and equipment in the period.

We believe that the exclusion of certain income and expenses in calculating these non-GAAP financial measures can provide a useful measure for investors when comparing our period-to-period core operating results, and when comparing those same results to that published by our peers. We exclude certain other items because we believe that these income (expenses) do not reflect expected future operating expenses. Additionally, certain items are inconsistent in amounts and frequency, making it difficult to perform a meaningful evaluation of our current or past operating performance. We use these non-GAAP financial measures to evaluate ongoing operations, for internal planning and forecasting purposes, and to manage our business.

These non-GAAP financial measures are not intended to be considered in isolation from, as substitute for, or as superior to, the corresponding financial measures prepared in accordance with GAAP. There are limitations inherent in non-GAAP financial measures because they exclude charges and credits that are required to be included in a GAAP presentation, and do not present the full measure of our recorded costs against its revenue. In addition, our definition of the non-GAAP financial measures may differ from non-GAAP measures used by other companies.