Adaptive Biotechnologies CEO Chad Robins. (GeekWire Photo)

Adaptive Biotechnologies beat expectations for its fiscal third quarter as the Seattle company continues to use its immune medicine platform in the fight against COVID-19.

Adaptive posted revenue of $26.3 million, up 1% year-over-year, and earnings per share of -$0.27. Wall Street expected revenue of $23.6 million and earnings per share of -$0.28. Adaptive’s clinical sequencing volume rose 58% year-over-year, and its operating expenses grew from $44.1 million to $63.3 million.

The company also on Tuesday announced a partnership with GlaxoSmithKline plc, a U.K.-based pharmaceutical giant that will use Adaptive’s clonoSEQ Assay for its hematology portfolio. Financial terms were not disclosed but Adaptive will receive upfront and potential regulatory milestone payments.

Adaptive makes technology to sequence the human system immune system, with the promise of diagnosing multiple diseases from a single blood test.

“This pandemic has highlighted the key role of the immune response in our understanding of disease,” Adaptive CEO Chad Robins said in a statement. “COVID-19 is a prime example of the power of our platform to rapidly generate immune-driven solutions to any disease, including what we believe are best-in-class antibodies against the virus.”

Adaptive recently identified two antibodies that neutralize COVID-19 at low concentrations. It is working with two COVID-19 vaccine developers on clinical trials, using its new monitoring tool that measures how T-cells, key components of the immune system, respond over time to COVID-19 vaccines. The company also is developing T-Detect COVID, a T-cell-based test for identifying past COVID-19 infections.

“We are seeing that with this virus, as with many other pathogens, the T cell provides a key link to understanding exposure and immunity when it comes to COVID-19,” Adaptive co-founder Harlan Robins wrote in a blog post in September. “Now we have the ability to use T cells to detect SARS-CoV-2 and leverage this capability to measure and monitor a more comprehensive immune response to vaccines in development.”

Microsoft and Adaptive are developing a new diagnostic test for COVID-19 and in June launched a COVID-19 immune response database as part of a broader partnership. Adaptive is also partnering with Amgen to develop a new drug to treat and prevent COVID-19, using Adaptive’s immune sequencing technology.

Adaptive’s stock has more than doubled since March. The company went public a year ago.

Adaptive spun out of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. It was founded in 2009 by brothers Chad and Harlan Robins. The company employs more than 500 people and is building a new headquarters and R&D facility in Seattle’s South Lake Union neighborhood.

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