The decrease in revenue was primarily the result of a decrease in reagent sales.
Gross profit decreased 51.2% to $2,115,000 from $2,488,000 due to lower sales and the decrease in gross profit margin principally as a result of lower absorption of fixed manufacturing costs due to lower reagent sales volume and an increase in the sale of instruments, which have a lower average margin than reagent sales.
Total operating expenses for the first quarter of 2011 decreased to $3,123,000 from $3,368,000 for the first quarter of 2010.
Research and development expenses increased due to the increase in new product development activities during 2011, including additional staff allocated to research and development activities.
IVAX Diagnostics CEO and COO Kevin Clark said as previously announced, in January 2011, they received clearance from the US Food and Drug Administration on the 510(k) premarket submission for the Mago 4S, a next-generation fully-automated Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) and Immunofluorescence Assay (IFA) instrumentation system for autoimmune and infectious disease testing that they have begun marketing in the US.
IVAX Diagnostics operates through three subsidiaries – Diamedix Corporation (US), Delta Biologicals (Europe) and ImmunoVision (US).
