Cadent Acquisition, Research Put Cardiac Science Further Into Red

Cardiac Science Inc., an Irvine maker of defibrillator devices and monitoring software, reported a fourth-quarter net loss of nearly $7.4 million, or 30 cents a share, up from $2.9 million, or 25 cents per share, a year earlier. Sales rose to about $1.5 million from $103,000.

For the year, Cardiac lost $32.9 million, or $1.82 per share, compared with $7.7 million, or 85 cents per share, in 1999. The most recent loss included noncash charges of $16.4 million, primarily associated with the acquisition of Cadent Medical Corp., a Bedford, Mass., developer of wearable, cell phone-size defibrillators. In addition, research expenses largely related to the development of a next-generation automatic defibrillator totaled more than $8.2 million, the company said. Revenue grew to $4.2 million from $103,000.