LOS ANGELES—Second Sight Medical Products (NASDAQ: EYES), developers of the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis Systems, reported a net loss of $35.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2018 compared with a net loss of $28.5 million in 2017. The company, which also developed the Orion Visual Cortical Prosthesis System that is currently in clinical trials, generated net sales of $6.9 million on a GAAP basis in 2018 compared to $8.0 million in 2017. Second Sight said the decrease is mainly due to lower international sales as its restructures its international commercial activities.

Another reason for the decrease is the drop in the average revenue per implant in 2018 from approximately $108,000 in 2018 and $119,000 in 2017 due to a lower reimbursement rate set by CMS. The company said it expects its average revenue recognized per implant unit for 2019 to be in a range of $120,000 to $130,000, depending on the geographic mix of implants. Second Sight said it implanted 16 Argus II Retinal Prosthesis Systems worldwide in the fourth quarter of 2018 for a total of 69 implants in 2018.

Gross profit in 2018 was $2.0 million, compared to gross profit of $2.8 million in 2017. Cost of sales decreased to $4.9 million in 2018 from $5.1 million in 2017, a decrease of $0.2 million.

McGuire noted that Second Sight completed a $34.6 million rights offering in 2018 and restructured its commercial operations outside of North America. “These actions will provide us with the necessary runway to execute our strategic initiatives into 2020,” he said.

In the fourth quarter of 2018, Second Sight generated net sales of $1,8 million on a GAAP basis compared to $3.1 million in the year-ago period. Gross profit for the fourth quarter of 2018 was $0.2 million compared to a gross profit of $1.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2017. Net loss for the fourth quarter of 2018 was $8.9 million compared to a net loss of $7.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2017.