Pressure BioSciences Inc. reported a 130 percent increase in first-quarter sales, as the lab equipment maker continues its efforts to reduce its net losses and cash burn and move from pure research to a sales-based business model.
The South Easton-based company, which specializes in sample preparation equipment for genomic and proteomic research, posted sales of about $307,000 for the three-month period ended March 31, up from nearly $133,000 during the same period last year.
Nearly three-quarters of those revenues came from sales of its pressure cycling technology. That’s a shift from Pressure BioSciences’ heavy reliance on grant income, as the company had steadily moved toward becoming a fully commercialized sales operation for three consecutive quarters.
The strong revenue gains helped Pressure BioSciences narrow its quarterly net loss to about $224,000, compared with a net loss of $1.3 million during the 2008 first quarter, as it strives to cut its cash burn down to $600,000 per quarter. It just missed that mark with a $850,000 operating loss for the quarter.
The difference between the operating loss and the net loss was primarily due to a $600,000 tax refund the company received as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
The company’s coffers are also in better shape than last year, when it burned through more than 80 percent of its bank account. Pressure BioSciences had just under $4 million in current assets as of the end of the quarter, including $2.1 million in cash from a private equity placement the company completed in February. And the company laid off eight employees, or 40 percent of its workforce, during the fourth quarter of 2008.
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