EMERYVILLE, Calif.—NovaBay Pharmaceuticals (NYSE MKT: NBY) posted significant increases in net sales for the three and six months ended June 30, 2016, based largely on the strong sales of its Avenova lid cleaner.

NovaBay net sales for the second quarter of 2016 were $2.7 million, up 164 percent from $1.0 million for the second quarter of 2015. Product revenue, which includes sales of Avenova and NeutroPhase, increased 185 percent to $2.7 million. The company’s total gross profit margin was 82 percent for the second quarter of 2016, compared with 75 percent for the prior-year period, with the increase mainly due to higher sales of Avenova.

The gross profit margin on Avenova sales grew to 85 percent. Operating loss for the second quarter of 2016 was $2.2 million, representing improvements of 55 percent from $4.9 million reported for the second quarter of 2015 and 52 percent from the first quarter of 2016.

“NovaBay achieved record Avenova sales of $2.6 million, representing a healthy 89 percent growth over first quarter and over a $10 million annualized run rate. We drove these gains by our focused execution on the higher margin prescription ophthalmology channel,” said Mark M. Sieczkarek, NovaBay’s president and CEO.

“Our gross margin continues to expand as we increase our sales in this reimbursed channel. These improvements, in combination with the actions we took late last year to restructure the company and reduce operating expenses, has lowered our cash burn by nearly 50 percent.

“Importantly, Avenova has yet to scratch the surface of the market opportunity we estimate at about 41 million Americans,” said Sieczkarek. “I’m pleased to report NovaBay still is on track to achieve our goal of positive adjusted cash flow from operations in December 2016.”

NovaBay’s net sales for the six months ended June 30, 2016 were $4.4 million, up 183 percent from $1.5 million for the six months ended June 30, 2015, with the increase primarily attributable to significantly higher sales of Avenova. Product revenue for the first half of 2016 increased 203 percent to $4.3 million.

Gross profit margin was 75 percent the first half of 2016, compared with 74 percent for the first half of 2015. Gross profit margin on the Avenova brand was 82 percent for the first half of 2016. Operating loss for the first six months of 2016 was $6.8 million, a 28 percent improvement from $9.5 million for the comparable period in 2015.