Newport Pharmaceuticals Posts $1.3-Million Loss

Citing the costs of launching extensive testing of a potential AIDS drug, Newport Pharmaceuticals Inc., a Newport Beach drug maker, said Monday that it lost $1.3 million in the first quarter of its fiscal 1988, or 27 times the $48,000 it lost in the comparable period last year.

Revenues for the period ended July 31 were $5.7 million, contrasted with $2 million posted last year. The increased operating revenues are attributable to the acquisition in April of America’s Pharmacy Inc., a mail-order prescription drug retailer.

Despite the significant increase in red ink, Newport Pharmaceuticals executives said it was “in line” with their expectations. “The first quarter’s loss reflects progress in the 2,300-patient clinical trial program to establish the efficacy of Isoprinosine in the treatment of pre-AIDs conditions,” said J.R. Fosberg, Newport’s president.

He said the company would continue to increase its research and development spending as the clinical trials progress through the first half of 1988. The tests are believed to be the largest clinical study program currently under way for an AIDS-related drug.

The company said it expects the costs of conducting the AIDS tests will cause the company to post a loss for its full fiscal year.