Luther Medical Products Reports First Profitable Quarter for Firm

Luther Medical Products Inc. on Thursday reported its first profitable quarter in the Tustin company’s 8 1/2-year history, posting net earnings of $36,000 for the first quarter of its 1989 fiscal year. By contrast, the company had a loss of $121,000 for the same quarter a year ago. However, sales dropped to $608,000 from $682,000 for the first quarter of fiscal 1988, due primarily to discontinuation of a product line.

The company attributed its improved financial picture to its emergence from research and development into a commercial manufacturing firm. Last year Luther Medical formed an alliance with Critikon Inc., a division of Johnson & Johnson, to market Luther’s “stickless catheter” that is designed to protect nurses from AIDS and other infectious, blood-borne diseases. Tate Scott, Luther Medical’s director of marketing, said Johnson & Johnson has been buying catheters from Luther Medical. He said Johnson & Johnson has been stockpiling the catheters in preparation for launching a marketing campaign for the new product, which he said is just now getting under way.

The company earlier this week reported that it had obtained a second patent on its catheter, which Scott said the company hopes will make it more difficult for competitors to duplicate. “These positive results are from the foundation laid almost 2 years ago when our business plan was altered to include successive introduction of our products with leading marketing partners,” said Ronald B. Luther, the company’s president and chief executive. “We expect this groundwork to provide us with a sound base for continued growth and profitability.”