NanoString Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: NSTG) today provided preliminary operational and financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended December 31, 2017.

Financial Highlights:

• Product and service revenue for fiscal year 2017 is expected to be approximately $72 million, versus prior guidance of $68 to $71 million
• Product and service revenue for the fourth quarter of 2017 is expected to be approximately $21 million
• Total revenue for fiscal year 2017 is expected to be in the range of $113 to $115 million, including approximately $41 to $43 million of collaboration revenue, versus prior guidance of $109 to $112 million
• Cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments of approximately $82 million at December 31, 2017

Operational Highlights:

• Approximately 125 nCounter® Analysis Systems sold in 2016, including 54 nCounter SPRINT™ Profilers
• Installed base of approximately 605 nCounter Analysis Systems at December 31, 2017, and increase of approximately 25% since year-end 2016
• More than 1,820 cumulative peer-reviewed publications of studies based on nCounter technology as of December 31, 2017, an increase of more than 25% over the prior year

“While 2017 was a challenging year, we believe that actions we have taken helped to stabilize the business in the fourth quarter and put us on the path to improved growth over the course of 2018,” said NanoString president and chief executive officer, Brad Gray. “The changes that we’ve made to our commercial channel have had a positive impact, and we achieved both solid SPRINT sales and record consumables revenue during the fourth quarter. In addition, we have taken actions to resource key development programs, extend the runway provided by our existing cash, and expand our access to additional capital.”

Cost Management and Financial Resources

During the fourth quarter, the company shifted resources to its high-impact platform-development programs, Digital Spatial Profiling and Hyb & Seq™, and eliminated approximately 30 positions in lower-priority areas of the business. The company now expects that its existing cash on-hand will be sufficient to fund its operations through mid-2019. Additionally, during the first week of January 2018, the company increased its access to capital by entering into a $15 million revolving credit facility and a $40 million “at-the-market” facility agreement for potential future equity financing.

NanoString president and chief executive officer, Brad Gray, will give a corporate update at the JP Morgan Healthcare conference at 8:00 a.m. PST on Thursday January 11th, 2018. A live webcast of the presentation will be available online from the investor relations page of the company's corporate website at www.nanostring.com. After the live webcast, the presentation will remain available on the website for approximately 30 days.

These preliminary results are based on management’s initial analysis of operations for the quarter and year ended December 31, 2017 and are subject to further internal review and review/audit by the company’s external auditors.