LDR Posts First-Quarter Sales Gains

LDR Holding Corp. has boosted first-quarter 2015 sales.

The Austin, Texas-based spine company reported its financial results for the first quarter (ended March 31), and posted a 25.9 percent sales gain to $39.1 million, compared to $31.1 million in the first quarter of 2014. On a constant currency basis, total revenue grew 31.4 percent.

Revenue from exclusive technology products in the first quarter of 2015 grew 34.6 percent to $35.9 million, compared to $26.7 million in the first quarter of 2014. Revenue in the United States increased 35.2 percent to $31.3 million in the first quarter of 2015, compared to $23.2 million in the first quarter of 2014, and represented 80.1 percent of total revenue.
International revenue decreased 1.4 percent during the first quarter of 2015 to $7.8 million compared to $7.9 million in the first quarter of 2014, and represented 19.9 percent of total revenue. On a constant currency basis, international revenue grew 20.2 percent during the same period.

Revenue from sales of the company’s cervical products grew 48.9 percent in the first quarter of 2015 to $26.5 million, compared with $17.8 million in the first quarter of 2014, due principally to the growth from the Mobi-C cervical disc. Additionally, revenue from LDR’s exclusive lumbar products in the first quarter increased 6 percent to $9.4 million, compared with $8.9 million in the first quarter of 2014. Along with growth in the company’s non-fusion products, led by Mobi-C, LDR’s VerteBridge fusion products for both the cervical and lumbar spine continued to grow, in part, because surgeons who were trained on the use of Mobi-C were introduced to VerteBridge exclusive technology product lines for use in surgical cases where fusion is appropriate.

“We are gratified by the demand for our products by our spine surgeon customers. As our results show, the uniqueness of LDR’s products continues to support sustainable revenue growth,” said Christophe Lavigne, president and CEO of LDR. “While both our exclusive technology lines grew, cervical continues to be the primary driver of total revenue growth as we are increasingly recognized as a leader in bringing a global cervical solution to surgeons with non-fusion and fusion technologies. Our lumbar products grew above the market, and we will continue to focus more on this area where we see opportunities to improve patient outcomes by providing new surgical alternatives to surgeons.”

Gross profit for the first quarter of 2015 was $32.7 million and gross margin was 83.5 percent, compared to gross profit of $25.8 million and gross margin of 83.1 percent for the first quarter of 2014. The improvement in gross margin is due to better freight rate management and lower inventory reserves associated with the value of our inventory, partially offset by royalties due to product mix, according to the company.

Net loss for the first quarter of 2015 was $3.2 million, or 12 cents per share, compared to a net loss of $3.5 million, or 15 cents per share, for the same quarter a year ago.
Adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) for the first quarter of 2015 was a loss of $1.4 million compared to adjusted EBITDA loss of $1 million for the first quarter of 2014.

“We continued to execute on our Horizon 2016 plan in the first quarter, making investments in sales, marketing, physician education and reimbursement to develop and adapt our organization to take advantage of our ‘first mover’ position with Mobi-C being the only FDA-approved two-level cervical disc replacement solution,” Lavigne added. “We are pleased that data related to our unique technologies were included in six podium presentations at the International Society for the Advancement of Spine Surgery Annual Conference … including five-year data from the PMA (premarket approval) trial on Mobi-C versus fusion for one- and two-level disc disease. Spine surgeons often regard five-year data as an important milestone to evaluate an implant’s demonstrable long-term clinical benefit and reliability. We believe that these podium presentations, along with those at the North American Spine Society conference last November and upcoming presentations at other international spine societies, will be important in establishing Mobi-C as a leading non-fusion option for surgeons and their patients. We believe the dissemination of the five-year PMA trial data and the publication of a study of the cost effectiveness of cervical total disc replacement with Mobi-C versus fusion for the treatment of two-level degenerative disc disease in the prestigious journal, JAMA Surgery, has been and will continue to be important as payers make coverage decisions in the foreseeable future.”