The loss was narrower than the $8.2 million, or 13 cents a share, reported for the third quarter of fiscal 2008.

Revenues dropped to $8.6 million from $10.8 million in the quarter that ended in March.

Michael A. Zeher, the president and chief executive of the company, said the weak economy was the main reason for the drop in revenues. But he said the company’s bottom line results “continue to show dramatic improvement.”

He said the company is pleased with sales of the Iceland Health branded products. Consumer purchases at the retail level of those products rose 29 percent, he said.

“Despite significant economic headwinds, we are demonstrating that our combination of strong branding, safe and efficacious products, and effective marketing support are driving strong results,” he said.

The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in lower Manhattan let stand a ruling by the late U.S. District Court Judge Charles Brieant in the case of former Wyeth compliance officer Newton Paul.

Paul, who is black, worked at Wyeth’s Pearl River campus from 2000 to 2005. He claimed in a lawsuit that he faced discrimination in pay and promotions.

Paul is one of eight current and former Wyeth employees who sued the company for alleged race discrimination in Pearl River. Five of the lawsuits have been dismissed at the trial court level.

Acorda shares were trading at $24.59, up $5.09, or 26.1 percent, at 10:25 a.m.

The company said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has assigned “priority review” status to its application for Fampridine-SR, a drug that would help people with multiple sclerosis walk.
The FDA hopes to complete its review of the application by Oct. 22.

The company first submitted the application on Jan. 30. But on March 30, the FDA said there were “format issues” with the application and requested more information. The company resubmitted the application on April 22.

Acorda also said this morning it lost $18.7 million, or 50 cents a share, in the first quarter, compared to a loss of $16.4 million, or 54 cents a share, in last year’s first quarter.

LeCroy said the results for this year’s quarter, which ended March 28, included a gain on the extinguishment of convertible debt.

Tom Reslewic, the company’s president and chief executive, said LeCroy has cut its operating expenses by more than $6 million a quarter since December.

“Like our industry peers, we experienced a sharp decline in market demand in the first three months of the 2009 calendar year,” he said. “Anticipating this decline, we took steps at the beginning of the quarter to bring expenses in line with reduced sales levels. As demand further deteriorated, we made additional adjustments to our cost structure later in the quarter.”

Reslewic said that as a result of the cuts, the company is “poised for profit and cash generation” this quarter.
LeCroy announced last month it would eliminate 24 jobs, including 10 at its headquarters. The company also said some workers would put in shorter work weeks.

In January, LeCroy said it would cut 45 jobs, or 10 percent of its global work force. Just a fraction of those cuts would be at headquarters, it said. LeCroy also cut management and employee base salaries and suspended its matching contributions to 401(k) programs.

Oscilloscopes are used in the design and testing of computer chips.

LeCroy shares were trading at $4.40, up 85 cents, or 24 percent, at 10 a.m.

But revenue dropped slightly to $325.7 million from $327.5 million, the company said.
A BioScrip shareholder said in a letter this week the company should cut costs while exploring a sale.

Anchor Capital of Raleigh, N.C., said in a letter to the BioScrip board that investors have lost confidence in management’s ability to cut costs and operate the company’s assets “at a reasonable level of profitability.”

The company’s shares were trading at $3.04 this morning, up 23 cents, or 8.2 percent. The shares have gained 37 percent on the year.

Total revenues increased to $75 million from $56.4 million in the same period of 2008. The company said the revenue came from contract research and development, technology licensing and net product sales.

Regeneron is working on new drugs with French drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis and Bayer HealthCare.

On a per-share basis, the company earned 10 cents in this year’s quarter, compared with 7 cents last year.

Revenues rose to $52.36 million from $45.61 million.

IntegraMed’s chief executive, Jay Higham, said in a statement released by the company, “Our businesses continue to perform well in a challenging economic environment, reaffirming our strategy of focusing on emerging niche medical specialties.”

The company’s revenue from all three of its business units grew.

Revenue from the fertility center business, the largest unit, grew 11 percent to $36.3 million. The increase was driven by a 7.6 percent rise money taken in by centers open at least a year. In addition, the company got revenue from the addition of new clinics.

Revenues from IntegraMed’s vein clinics business grew 22.7 to $10.8 million compared to $8.8 million in the year-ago quarter.

Consumer services revenue grew 30 percent to $5.2 million.

The company said it is still calculating the charge but expects it to include “all or substantially all” of the $45 million in goodwill recorded on the balance sheet. If the entire goodwill balance is written off, the impairment charge would be $29 million, net of taxes, or $1.36 a share.

Fred Zinn, the company’s president and chief executive, said the charge will not affect Drew’s operations, liquidity, cash flows or borrowing under its credit agreements.

Joe Giordano, Drew’s chief financial officer, said the charge is “largely the result of uncertainties in the economy, and in the RV and manufactured housing industries.”

Anchor Capital of Raleigh, N.C. said in a letter to the BioScrip board that investors have lost confidence in management’s ability to cut costs and operate the company’s assets “at a reasonable level of profitability.”

“Therefore, we believe shareholders’ best option for value creation is a sale to a strategic buyer that is willing and able to operate (Bioscrip’s) assets efficiently,” Anchor said in the letter.

Anchor said in a press release that it believes shareholders “have lost patience with BioScrip’s frequent missteps.” That has caused the values of the company’s shares to drop 67.4 percent since the end of 2007, Anchor said.

Anchor said it believes a sale to a strategic buyer could cause the shares to jump 325 percent from their $2.52 closing price last Wednesday. The shares closed yesterday at $2.48, up 3 cents.

Lisa Wilson, an outside public relations agent, said the company had no comment.

Anchor said its affiliates own 512,297 BioScrip shares, about 1.3 percent of the company.