Trimedyne’s Loss Offset by Higher Revenues

Trimedyne Inc. of Santa Ana said it lost $82,000 for its fiscal 1985 fourth quarter, down considerably from the $627,000 loss reported for the same period last year. At the same time, the medical laser and surgical equipment maker said revenue rose 70% to $1.2 million from $710,000 a year earlier. The company said it lost $810,000 for the year ended Sept. 30, less than half the fiscal 1984 loss of $1.9 million. Revenue for fiscal 1985 was up 43%, to $4.3 million from $3 million the previous year.

Jerry Lazenby, Trimedyne’s vice president for marketing, attributed the increased sales to the medical profession’s growing acceptance of new surgical technologies, such as the company’s fiber optic catheter, which is used to view the heart and vascular system. “As the new technology becomes more accessible, we become more successful,” he said.

Lazenby said Trimedyne’s ongoing research program has helped give high-tech equipment more visibility because clinical trials have enabled large numbers of physicians to use devices such as the company’s Argon surgical laser system--which the Food and Drug Administration recently approved for marketing. Trimedyne plans to begin making the laser in February, with domestic and foreign marketing scheduled for April.

A new surgical laser developed by Trimedyne was approved in June by the FDA for clinical trial use. Lazenby said the product, which is designed to open partially blocked blood vessels and reestablish blood flow, could be marketable in about two years.