Caliper Life Sciences Inc. managed to narrow its net loss by more than 37 percent, despite a top-line slide of nearly 6 percent.
The Hopkinton, Mass.-based lab equipment and services provider reported revenues of $32.2 million during the three months ended Sept. 30, down 5.5 percent compared with $34 million during the same period last year.
Net losses for the quarter were $3.4 million, down 37.4 percent compared with $5.4 million during the third quarter of 2008.
Caliper said Q3 revenues from sales of its lab equipment rose 7 percent, driven by strong sales of its LabChip GX instrument. Sales for its imaging segment rose 15 percent during the quarter on the back of its IVIS instruments and consumables.
Sales for its Caliper Discovery Alliances and Services division slumped 26 percent, largely on lower revenues from government customers and a delays by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in issuing a task order for its ToxCast program.
The CDAS division won an extension of the EPA contract in March, which it originally landed in 2007 to help reduce costs and increase the efficiency of the regulatory approval process for new but potentially toxic chemicals. Company officials initially expected the deal to deliver around $3 million in revenues this year.
Caliper said the EPA issued a new funding commitment for $1.8 million, raising Caliper’s total take from the contract to $5.6 million.
President and CEO Kevin Hrusovsky said the company believes the new task order will help drive double-digit growth for the CDAS division in 2010. The order calls for the screening of 700 compounds against Caliper’s ToxCast assay panel, expected to begin during the first quarter of 2010.
Caliper said it expects full-year sales of between of $127 million and $129 million, with revenues of $34.5 million to $36.5 million during the fourth quarter.