Hologic diagnostic testing revenues, once driven by COVID, now down 41%

Photo | Grant Welker Hologic's Marlborough headquarters

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By Isabel Tehan

Hologic Inc., a Marlborough medical technology company, reported a 41.2% decrease in diagnostic testing revenue in the first quarter of fiscal 2023.

For the same quarter in fiscal 2022, revenue was $950.4 million, and this year the company listed $559.3 million in their preliminary revenue report released on Sunday.

Hologic specializes in women’s health products, but during the coronavirus pandemic pivoted to develop U.S. Food and Drug Administration-authorized COVID testing systems. At the end of 2020, Hologic’s revenues were up 90% to $1.2 billion, with the increase driven largely by the COVID testing.

In November 2022, the company was awarded a $19-million contract from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for continued research and development of their testing systems for COVID, flu, and RSV.

Overall rates of COVID testing have caused swings in Hologic’s revenue reports over the past three years, with a decrease in profit of 34% reported in November 2021. At that time, the company attributed the drop to decreased purchasing of tests.

The 41.2% first quarter revenue decrease points to an overall marked decrease in COVID testing. Excluding COVID revenue data, the company has seen an increase in revenue in the first quarter, with organic diagnostics up 12.2% and organic molecular diagnostics up 21.5% from last year.

Overall, the company’s quarterly organic revenue dropped 27% to $1.1 billion in the first quarter of fiscal 2023, but excluding the COVID division, organic revenue rose 4% to $898 million.

"We delivered robust revenue performance in our fiscal first quarter of 2023, with our Diagnostics and Surgical businesses growing organically double-digits in constant currency, excluding COVID," Hologic Chairman, President and CEO Steve MacMillan said in the earnings release.