Already facing a possible delisting from NASDAQ, Exact Sciences Corp. reported more bad news.

Sales for the genomics firm slipped dramatically in 2008, pushing the company into the red for the year and offsetting cost-cutting moves made in July when it shed its R&D staff. Exact Sciences laid off eight employees, leaving a skeleton crew of four staff members at its Marlborough headquarters.

Company officials reported negative sales for the three-month period ended on Dec. 31, 2009, due to royalty fees it must pay to Case Western Reserve University to license some of the technology for one of its tests.

The company, which makes genetic tests for colorectal cancer, reported sales of -$109,000 for the quarter, compared to -$600,000 for the same period in 2007. The sales numbers didn’t seem to bother the company’s bottom line, as cost-cutting moves helped Exact Sciences narrow its losses for the quarter to $2.1 million, compared to $4.2 million for the same period in the prior year.

For the full year, sales dropped significantly from $1.7 million in 2007 to negative $868,000 last year. The company lost $9.7 million in 2008, compared to a $12 million loss in 2007.