Pancretic, Still in Red, Poised to Turn Profit

SAN DIEGO —  Although 2-year-old Pancretic Inc. probably will not break into the black during the current fiscal year, President and Chief Executive Richard W. Turner on Monday told about 30 shareholders that the medical products company is poised to share in a medical products market that could grow to $1 billion by 1988.

“Our objective is to get profitable,” Turner said during Pancretic’s annual meeting. “We’re in a good position to do that.”

The San Diego-based company reported a net loss of $334,676 for the first quarter ended Sept. 30, compared to a net loss of $542,268 for the same quarter a year ago. The company, which reported $463,993 in sales, did not record any sales during the same quarter a year ago.

Turner said Pancretic reduced its recent quarterly net loss by boosting sales 102% over the past two quarters and “reducing operating losses.”

Pancretic, which completed its first year as a public company on June 30, produces portable pumps that patients use to inject drugs--including hormones, chemotherapy and insulin--on an outpatient basis.

Pancretic’s transition from a research and development company to a production company was made possible by a $2-million private placement earlier this year that brought three Houston-based investor groups into the company’s shareholder ranks.

Market research firms have predicted that home-injection therapy will grow to a $1-billion industry by 1988, Turner said.