上个月国会颁布的一项总统否决权将降低10.6%的医疗偿还率，处于政府医疗保险计划之列的医生和大多数的老年人及残疾人终于扬眉吐气了，Genoptix(代號:GXDX)也是如此。这是一家位于加州的提供个性化学服务公司，主要为肿瘤学家和血液学家提供骨髓和血液癌检测服务。医疗偿还占到公司总业务的40%，单单削减10.6%的医疗偿还率当然对公司的业绩不利，但是公司认为下半年的医疗偿还率将保持，到09年将上涨1.1% 。
目前，随着公司不断在新的地区和新的国家扩展销售市场，营收得到大幅增长，大量新客户涌现。Genoptix预计今年营收将打破1亿美元大关，去年公司的销售额达到5900万美元。08年上半年的营收就已经达到了5010万美元。公司的CEO表示：“我们的任务就是扩大销售力度，不断为更广泛领域的客户提供高质量诊断服务，并以此拓展全球客户量。”
二季度，公司的销售额大涨了99%至2780万美元，每股收益上涨了39%至0.32美元。本季度公司在Carlsbad的实验室就处理了9,300起试验，同比增长77% 。公司预测今年每股收益将达到1.11至1.16美元，同比增长0.78美元。ThomsonReuters分析师预期为1.16美元。
作为一家仍然年轻的企业，公司自1999年组建以来直到04年才开始提供诊断服务，04年10月上市以后，公司就专注于为商业性肿瘤和血液研究机构提供诊断服务。公司认为在商业小区内有8,700家商业性肿瘤和血液研究机构，并不包括医院和医疗中心。公司已经与这8,700家机构中的10%建立起了客户关系，并预计总数将以3.8%的年增长率上升。基于公司长期看涨的前景，分析师表示：“基于较低的市场份额，以及强劲的销售额，公司将在今后五年中创造强劲的营收。”
全国来看，每年的骨髓测试市场价值达到10亿美元，其中将有60%的份额被Genoptix收入囊中。以目前的医疗偿还率来算，每一项骨髓测试将为公司创造约有3,000美元的营收。血液测试尤其需要更为简便的试验环节，每个病人将创造100到3,000不等的营收。分析师表示，不同于其它公司， Genoptix的测试结果还能为主治医生提供病人的准确病史。但是公司并没有测试的专利技术权，因此必须通过不断赢得客户服务来维持业务运营。
但是Cowen&Co分析师KempDolliver并不认为这会对公司蓬勃发展构成阻碍，“公司已经扩建了实验室以便提高生产效率，因此有能力提供高水平的服务。”全国范围内，分析师表示有1-2%的测试标本会被丢失，而多数的骨髓测试对于病人来说极为痛苦，“所以你最不愿听到的事就是：你的测试标本被丢失了。” Genoptix对此颇有对策，公司将建立第二所实验室以辅助第一所实验室的运营，预计将耗资1500万美元。
Investor's Business Daily
Override Of Bush Medicare Veto Provides A Lift For Medical Lab
Wednesday August 13, 5:55 pm ET
Kevin Harlin Last month, Congress overrode a presidential veto that would have meant a 10.6% cut to Medicare reimbursement rates.
Doctors and many elderly and disabled covered by the government insurance plan breathed sighs of relief.
So did Genoptix (NasdaqGM:GXDX - News).
The Carlsbad, Calif., lab company runs bone marrow and blood-based cancer tests for oncologists and hematologists.
Medicare reimbursements make up about 40% of the company's business. So an almost 11% cut alone would have hurt. But since other insurers watch and often follow Medicare's reimbursement practices, the pain would have been amplified.
Instead of cuts, the company is now looking at flat reimbursement rates for the rest of this year and a modest 1.1% increase in 2009.
Revenue Growth
"It was sort of a head wind until that was passed," said Bud Leedom, an analyst at Global Hunter.
Now, revenue is growing fast as the company expands its sales force, branching into new regions of the country and selling more services to existing customers.
Genoptix expects to break the $100 million mark in revenue for the first time this year. Last year, it posted $59 million in sales.
Through the first half of 2008, the company had already reported revenue of $50.1 million, including $1.3 million from 2007 due to an accounting estimate change.
"Expanding our sales efforts and improving our ability to provide high-quality diagnostic services to a wider audience continues to drive customer growth nationwide," the company's chief executive, Tina Nova Bennett, said in a statement. "Higher case volumes reflect the success of these initiatives."
In the second quarter, sales were up 99% to $27.8 million. Earnings per share climbed 39% to 32 cents. The Genoptix lab in Carlsbad handled 9,300 cases in the quarter, a 77% increase from a year earlier.
The company expects to earn between $1.11 and $1.16 per share for the year, up from 78 cents in 2007. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters forecast $1.16.
Genoptix is still a young company. It incorporated in 1999 but didn't begin selling its specialized diagnostic services until 2004. It went public in October.
The company focuses on diagnostics for community-based hematologists and oncologists -- hem/oncs, as the company collectively refers to them. Genoptix thinks there are about 8,700 hem/oncs in community settings -- that is, not within a hospital or medical center.
It already has about 10% of those community hem/oncs as customers. And the company says the overall number of practicing hem/oncs is growing by about 3.8% a year, faster than the ranks of the general medical profession.
That gives it a potentially long runway for growth, Leedom says.
"Based on the low market share to date and the aggressive ramp in sales, you could really see a lot of incremental revenue over the next five years or so," he said.
Nationwide, bone marrow tests are about a $1-billion-a-year market, the company says.
Those cases make up about 60% of Genoptix's volume. Under the current Medicare reimbursement rates, those cases generate an average of about $3,000 in revenue. Blood-based cases typically require fewer and less complicated tests, and generate between $100 and $3,000 per patient, the company says.
Genoptix's focus on hematologists and oncologists is part of what distinguishes it from larger labs, which can run a wider range of tests.
Analysts say that unlike competitors' results, Genoptix's test result reports also give the treating physician the history of previous tests, the progression of the cancer and possible treatment options.
But the company doesn't have proprietary test technology. That leaves it having to win and maintain business through strong customer service, analysts say.
Cowen & Co. analyst Kemp Dolliver doesn't see that as a problem.
"The larger labs have designed their work flows for higher productivity, but have sacrificed the ability to provide a higher level of service as a result," he wrote in a client note.
Cowen does business with Genoptix and was involved in its IPO.
Lost Samples
The company has a tight relationship with shipper FedEx (NYSE:FDX - News), which Dolliver says helps maintain its record of never having lost a sample. Nationwide, analysts say 1% to 2% of shipped samples are lost.
Since many bone marrow tests in particular are uncomfortable or painful for patients, "the last thing you want to hear is we need to do another sample because we lost the first," Dolliver said.
The company expects to finalize a location soon for a second laboratory, which could increase its capacity and provide necessary backup to its first lab. Dolliver thinks it will cost less than the company's $15 million estimate.
The slowing economy has little direct impact, Nova Bennett told analysts in a second-quarter conference call. Most of Genoptix's community doctors seldom deal with Medicaid patients, who are poorer and possibly more likely to delay medical visits and tests during an economic slowdown, the CEO said.
"Unfortunately, our patients still need to be diagnosed with cancer," she said.
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