LI pharmaceutical company could see benefit from flu season

A Long Island-based pharmaceutical company may see a financial benefit from the strong flu season due to cold medicine sales, according to a research report Monday.

A report from Canaccord Genuity released Monday pointed to Amityville-based Hi-Tech Pharmacal as a company that could see potential benefit to profits for its fiscal quarters ending in January and April because of its exposure to the cold and cough medicine industry.

Hi-Tech is well known for producing the generic version of the popular nasal spray Flonase. It also makes a generic version of Robitussin. About $50 million -- or 20 percent -- of Hi-Tech's revenue is from sales of cold and cough medicine, according to the report.

The flu season got going late last year as cases spiked in December -- a month earlier than the regular beginning of the season in January. Cases of the flu hit "epidemic" status this past week, according the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In New York, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced a public health emergency on Saturday, as the number of cases reported in the state is more than four times the number from a year ago.

The Canaccord report also reasoned that stock market "numbers haven't changed to reflect a strong flu season" and that Hi-Tech is "generally off the radar of many investors."

During trading Monday, the company's stock was up more than 2 percent, trading at $37.26 per share about an hour before market close. Hi-Tech has a stock market value of about $500 million.

Photo: A Hi-Tech Pharmacal plant in Amityville.