Third-quarter sales for HeartWare International Inc. (NSDQ:HTWR) nearly doubled, but net losses widened nearly 34 percent as the cardiac assist device maker boosted its research & development spend ahead of a pre-market approval submission to the Food & Drug Administration.
Framingham, Mass.-based HeartWare reported a net loss of $7.8 million, or 57 cents per share, on sales of $13.8 million for the three months ended Sept. 30. That compares with net losses of $5.9 million, or 60 cents per share, on sales of $7.5 million during the same period last year.
International sales accounted for nearly three-quarters of all sales, president and CEO Douglas Godshall said in prepared remarks, reflecting the company’s emphasis on "ongoing expansion of commercialization activities in Europe and other countries outside the U.S.," according to a press release.
The bottom-line gap was largely due to increased R&D expenses as HeartWare gears up for its PMA submission, "which is targeted for year end," Godshall said. The company will seek an indication for its ventricular assist system for bridge-to-transplant for patients with advanced heart failure. The device is a small pump, implanted in the left ventricle of the heart, designed to assist the heart in pumping blood.
HTWR shares were trading at $68.96 in late-day activity, up 1.4 percent.
