Rockley's losses increase but CEO Rickman remains upbeat

15 Aug 2022

Health monitoring tech firm also announces first purchase order for its Bioptx Baseline Band; forms scientific advisory board.

Rockley Photonics, a developer of photonics-based health monitoring and communications technologies, has reported its financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2022.

Key figures in $millions from the quarter, compared with last year’s equivalent period (in brackets) were as follows: revenue 1.5 (2.2); gross profit -0.8 (-2.4); net loss -121.8 (-30.6); cash and investments at period end 46.6 (35.4); selling and admin expenses 21.2 (6.7); and R&D expenses 26.3 (17.6).

Dr. Andrew Rickman, chairman and CEO, commented, “I am proud of the progress we made in the second quarter. As we ramp towards commercial production, we have reached many of the milestones that we’ve been working towards and expect to reach many more in the coming months.

He added, “In August alone, we have signed a supply agreement and received our first commercial purchase order, we also received the first production devices from our manufacturing partner, and we have expanded our medtech market opportunity by adding contract research organizations as an additional market for our solutions.”

Chad Becker, the firm’s interim CFO, said, “There are many value creation opportunities ahead for Rockley. In my first few weeks as interim CFO, I have focused on ensuring more efficient use of cash and adjusting our operating model as we advance toward the commercialization of our technology in consumer wearables and medtech products.”

Other business highlights

Trading figures aside, Rockley highlighted several recent achievements as evidence of the company’s progress:

• Received first commercial purchase order – Following the delivery of the initial production devices of its Bioptx Baseline Band (pictured, right), Rockley received its first commercial purchase order from a medtech company. Rockley expects to ship the bands to the customer in the fourth quarter 2022, with volume production ramping in 2023.
• Signed partnership with a contract research organization, opening new market for Bioptx. The CRO, which provides full-service clinical development services to biopharmaceutical customers, signed a partnership agreement with Rockley to develop and evaluate its Bioptx biosensing wristband.
• Named Richard Kuntz to new Board of Directors. Clinical and research leader Dr. Kuntz joins Rockley’s board of directors, bringing a broad background in multiple areas of healthcare innovation.
• Established scientific advisory board of scientists and medical experts – Rockley has assembled experts in therapies for diseases in the areas of diabetes and cardiology, as well as human hydration and fundamental spectroscopy to further the company’s ongoing efforts to revolutionize wearable biosensing technology.
• Joined the Russell 3000® Index – Rockley’s inclusion in the index is expected to enhance the firm’s visibility and raise its profile in the wearables market.

Revised 2022 revenue guidance

The company said it expects to generate core product revenue of $5 - $10 million (this year). It stated, “While opportunities to monetize its datacom platform remain, Rockley has removed all revenue from datacom platform monetization in its revised guidance for 2022. Expenses related to the datacom asset have been eliminated, and the impact of datacom and other expense reductions is expected to be cash flow neutral.”

Rockley forms Scientific Advisory Board

The newly formed SAB will support Rockley’s mission of empowering people to make better-informed decisions about their health and well-being. The members of the SAB will advise Rockley concerning its biosensing platform, which enables the non-invasive, continuous, and near-real-time monitoring of multiple biomarkers.

The SAB will be chaired by Vish Kulkarni, senior vice president of commercial development at Rockley Photonics. The initial members of the board include the following:

Mark A. Arnold, PhD is the Edwin B. Green Chair in Laser Chemistry, professor of chemistry and director of the Center for Biocatalysis and Bioprocessing at the University of Iowa.

Zahi A. Fayad, PhD. is a professor of Radiology and Medicine (cardiology) at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and holds the Lucy G. Moses Professorship in Medical Imaging and Bioengineering at the Icahn School of Medicine in New York

Stavros Kavouras, PhD. is an assistant dean of graduate education and professor of nutrition at Arizona State University.

David C. Klonoff, MD is an endocrinologist specializing in the development and use of diabetes technology. He is the medical director of the Dorothy L. and James E. Frank Diabetes Research Institute of Mills-Peninsula Medical Center in San Mateo, California, and is a Clinical Professor of Medicine at University of California San Francisco.