Hi-Tech Pharmacal Q3 sales down

AMITYVILLE, N.Y. Hi-Tech Pharmacal has released the results of its third quarter, which ended on Jan. 31.

For the three-month period, the company saw its net sales for generic pharmaceuticals products decrease by 10 percent from $13.8 million during third quarter 2007 to $12.5 million for the same period in 2008.

The healthcare products division, which markets the company’s branded over-the-counter products, had net sales of $2.6 million for the quarter, a decrease of $0.8 million compared with the same period for 2007.

Research and product development costs for the three-month period increased $0.1 million to $1.4 million as compared with $1.3 million for the three-month period ended Jan. 31, 2007, as the company increased expenditures on external projects.

The company experienced a net loss for the period ended Jan. 31, 2008, of $1.5 million compared with net income of $0.7 million in the prior period.

David Seltzer, president and chief executive officer, commented, “The quarter was challenging as we experienced a milder that expected cough-and-cold season, which affected our higher margin prescription products, as well as our OTC brands. Additionally we faced increased competition on selected generic products.”

Seltzer further commented, “We are very upbeat about our generic business due to our recent approval of generic Flonase, and more recently, the approval for the generic alternative to Hycodan. Also, our Midlothian Laboratories division has performed well. To date, the Midlothian division has already launched two new generic prescription products since we announced the acquisition on Dec. 31, 2007. In the healthcare products division, we are excited about the upcoming launch of new and unique products, both in the areas of diabetes management, as well as broader nondiabetes related markets.”