Kona-based Mera Pharmaceuticals Inc. reported a net loss of $91,244 for the three months ending July 31 as sales fell nearly 40 percent from the same quarter a year earlier.

The loss compared with a profit of $7,521 in the year-earlier quarter. Mera, a marine biotechnology company that manufactures natural astaxanthin from microalgae, reported sales of $106,213 in the latest quarter, compared with $173,098 a year earlier.
Mera said it had an accumulated deficit of $8 million from September 2002, when the company was reorganize, through July 31. The losses were primarily incurred from costs associated with research and development, production and general and administrative expenses, the company said.
“We expect to continue to incur smaller operating losses through the current fiscal year,” company officials said in a regulatory filing.