PLANO, Texas, July 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AUSTIN MEDICAL TECHNOLOGIES, Inc. (OTC Pink Sheets: AMTK) announces the following highlights for the first six months of 2004:
Substantial Sales Growth
-- Sales for 2003 of $1.1 million increased by 202% over 2002.
-- Sales for the First Quarter 2004 increased by 54% over the First
Quarter 2003.
-- Sales for the Second Quarter 2004 increased by 45% over the Second
Quarter 2003.
New Executives and Advisors
-- Dr. Eugene Gabianelli M.D. was appointed Medical Director of Austin
Medical. Dr. Gabianelli brings a decade of experience in Refractive
Surgery (LASIK) and approximately $3 Million in new sales potential.
Currently Dr. Gabianelli is Medical Director of TLC Clear Vision
Laser Center in Atlanta. He is Chief of the Division of
Ophthalmology at St. Joseph's Hospital and former member of the
Georgia Society of Ophthalmology's Leadership Council.
-- Dr. Mark Golden joined the Board of Advisors of Austin Medical. Dr.
Golden has a long history in anterior segment surgery, but has
restricted his practice to Refractive Surgery for more than four
years. He has opened a number of laser centers around the United
States and is the Medical Director of Doctors For Visual Freedom, a
full service Refractive Surgical Center located in Northwest Suburban
Chicago.
New Strategic Alliances, Partners and Ventures
-- Formed an exclusive venture with CYNACON/OCuSOFT and launched "The
eyeCentric Group(TM)." This relationship could represent up to
$10 million in additional sales to Austin Medical. OCuSOFT Inc. is a
broad-based supplier of eye care products based in Richmond, Texas.
-- The Company's business coalition partner, Austin CMP, Inc joined The
eyeCentric Group(TM) founded by Austin Medical. Austin CMP, Inc.
manufacturers custom sterile surgery trays that are made up of
disposable surgical supplies utilized by a surgeon performing
surgery.
-- The Company formed an exclusive joint marketing and product sales
partnership with WALCOTT Rx Products, Inc. WALCOTT Rx will be
rolling out to its customer base, which consists of over 1,200 eye
surgery centers, the complete line of surgical kits from Austin
Medical.
Significant Customer Contracts
-- The Company signed several multi-year contracts in the first quarter,
which resulted in $300,000 in new business annually to the company.
-- ForTec ON-SIGHT was added as a customer in the second quarter,
representing over $200,000 in additional sales in this multi-year
contract.
-- The Company added 12 new contracts in June. All the contracts are
multi year contracts, providing an additional $500,000 of new
business.
-- The company signed a contract with Doctors For Visual Freedom, which
is a full service Refractive Surgical Center located in Northwest
Suburban Chicago.
About Austin Medical Technologies, Inc./eyeDirecti(TM) (Brand)
Austin Medical Technologies delivers "DIRECT" from the manufacturer to the Surgeon, the only technology based, "Single Source Supply Solution" for custom sterile surgery trays made up of 80% of all disposable surgical devices utilized in surgery. Currently the company has contracted with 200 eye surgery centers including the 2 largest eye surgery centers in the USA. The market for custom sterile surgery trays is a $2.1 Billion market here in the USA.
Austin Medical is dedicated exclusively to the Ambulatory Surgery Center (ASC) market. Ambulatory Surgery Centers (ASC), also called outpatient surgery, and same-day surgery, refers to surgical procedures which are complex enough to require a dedicated operating room and specially trained staff, but do not require an overnight stay. According to 1996 U.S. government statistics, ambulatory surgery centers account for 31 million or 44% of the total surgeries performed in the United States. Five million surgeries were performed on eyes. New surgical techniques such as laser surgery allow procedures to be done more quickly and/or with less surgical trauma.
Under the brand name eyeDirecti, Austin Medical is initially focused on Ophthalmology owned and operated surgery centers which is the fastest growing segment of the ASC market, growing by 25% per annum, consisting of 2,500 practices with 15,000 surgeons performing over 5 million surgical procedures annually at a supply cost of $400,000,000 per year. Austin Medical is positioned to capture $40,000,000 (10%) of this $400,000,000 market within the next 4 years. Visit our e-commerce site at http://www.eyedirecti.com/ .
Note: Any statements released by Austin Medical Technologies, Inc., or any of its affiliates that are forward-looking, are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. Editors and investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements invoke risk and uncertainties that may affect the Company's business prospects and performances. These include economic, competitive, governmental, technological and other factors discussed in the statements and in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Austin Medical Technologies, Inc.CONTACT: Keith Tarter of Austin Medical Technologies, Inc.,+1-972-370-0197, or investors@austinmedtech.com
