Viratek: The Costa Mesa-based firm reported Friday...

Viratek: The Costa Mesa-based firm reported Friday that its third-quarter net income more than doubled from the same period a year ago to $515,000, or 4 cents a share, on $385,000 in revenue. During the same period in 1990, the firm earned $210,000, or 2 cents a share, on $200,000 in revenue. Spokesman Jack Sholl attributed the improved results to an increase in demand for ribavirin--also known by the brand name Virazole--for the treatment of infants with severe lung infections. Viratek was accused by the Securities and Exchange Commission of knowingly misleading the public about the company’s ribavirin drug and its effectiveness in fighting acquired immune deficiency syndrome. The company, which settled the SEC charges earlier this week without admitting or denying wrongdoing, does not have approval in most countries to sell ribavirin in the treatment for AIDS. For the nine months ended Aug. 31, Viratek made $1.34 million, or 9 cents a share, on $2.2 million in revenue. It had a loss of $1.3 million, or 10 cents a share, in the same period a year earlier.