FRANKLIN, Mass., Nov. 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Sontra Medical Corporation (Nasdaq SC: SONT) announced today that its SonoPrep(R) ultrasonic skin permeation device was awarded the Grand Award of the “Best of What’s New” Award in the personal health category in Popular Science(R) Magazine’s 2004 17th Annual “Best of What’s New” Awards. The Best of What’s New Awards showcase the top 100 technology innovations in 12 categories, with each category having a Grand Award. The Grand Award was granted to Sontra for the SonoPrep in the personal health category, in recognition of its great technical advances. This award to Sontra for SonoPrep will be featured in the December 2004 issue and will be on newsstands November 16. The article can also be viewed at the Popular Science Magazine website at the following address: http://www.popsci.com/popsci/bown/2004/personalhealth/article/0,22221,768307,00.html
“Best of What’s New is the ultimate Popular Science accolade, representing a years’ worth of work evaluating thousands of products,” said Editor Mark Jannnot. “These awards honor innovations that not only impact the way we live today, but change the way we think about the future.”
The SonoPrep ultrasonic skin permeation device was chosen due to its advanced technology and innovative approach to penetrating the skin’s outermost layer, the stratum corneum. SonoPrep applies ultrasonic energy to the skin surface, which disorganizes the lipid-bilayer of the stratum corneum and creates reversible micro channels in the skin. This simple, fast and painless application creates an imperceptible window through the skin that enables molecules to pass through with 100 times greater efficiency than intact skin. The SonoPrep(R) ultrasonic skin permeation device makes the skin permeable for up to twenty four hours after a 15 second (average) treatment. SonoPrep has been demonstrated in numerous clinical studies to have broad product applications in non-invasive diagnostics and transdermal drug delivery. The recent FDA 510(k) clearance to market the SonoPrep device and procedure tray for use with topical lidocaine to achieve rapid skin anesthesia provides physicians and nurses a new innovative medical technology to help patients avoid painful interventions, particularly chronically ill children and adults who must endure repeated needle sticks and IV therapy. The SonoPrep is also currently being evaluated for the continuous non-invasive monitoring of glucose and for the transdermal delivery of vaccines, pain drugs and large protein biopharmaceuticals, offering potential significant health benefits to millions of people around the world.
“We are very pleased Popular Science has recognized our SonoPrep device for its significant technological advancement in the area of personal health,” stated Thomas W. Davison, PhD, Sontra’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “I would like to thank Scott Kellogg, Sontra’s Vice President of R&D and the rest of the scientific team at Sontra for all their hard work and dedication in developing the SonoPrep device. They built on the wonderful inventions of Sontra’s co-founders, Dr. Robert Langer of M.I.T. and Dr. Yosi Kost and have developed a skin permeation device that is effective, simple to use and economical to manufacture. As we continue to advance the product in several key market segments, we believe SonoPrep will become an effective transdermal delivery and diagnostic tool for the medical community providing health benefits to patients worldwide.”
About Popular Science
Founded in 1872, Popular Science is the world’s largest science and technology magazine with a circulation of 1.45 million and 6.5 million monthly readers. Each month, Popular Science reports on the intersection of science and everyday life, with an eye toward what’s new and why it matters. Popular Science is published by Time4 Media, a subsidiary of Time Inc., which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Time Warner Inc. .
About Sontra Medical Corporation (http://www.sontra.com/)
Sontra Medical Corporation is a technology leader in transdermal science. Sontra’s SonoPrep ultrasound-mediated skin permeation technology combined with technical competencies in transdermal drug formulation, delivery systems and biosensors is creating a new paradigm in transdermal drug delivery and diagnosis. The SonoPrep technology has demonstrated strong initial human clinical trials at leading universities and medical centers for several billion dollar market opportunities including the transdermal delivery of vaccines and large molecule drugs and continuous non-invasive glucose monitoring. Sontra is currently marketing the SonoPrep device and procedure tray for use with topical lidocaine to achieve rapid (within five minutes) skin anesthesia.
SonoPrep is a registered trademark of Sontra Medical Corporation. All other company, product or service names mentioned herein are the trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
This press release contains forward-looking statements, which address a variety of subjects including, for example, the expected efficacy of the SonoPrep device in connection with diagnostics, vaccine delivery, glucose monitoring and transdermal drug delivery, the expected benefits, market opportunities and market acceptance of the SonoPrep device and technology, the expected size of the markets for the SonoPrep device and technology, Sontra’s expected ability to commercialize additional products, and Sontra’s business, research and marketing strategies and product development plans. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about our beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Such statements are based on our current expectations and are subject to a number of factors and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. The following important factors and uncertainties, among others, could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in these forward-looking statements: adverse results in product development, clinical trials, commercialization efforts and market acceptance; difficulties or delays in obtaining regulatory approvals to market products resulting from development efforts; difficulties or delays associated with sources of transdermal drugs and vaccines; failure to obtain and maintain patent protection for discoveries; commercial limitations imposed by patents owned or controlled by third parties; dependence upon strategic partners and third-party distributors to develop, commercialize, market and sell products based on our work; the commercial success of products; and the requirement for substantial funding to conduct research and development and to expand commercialization and marketing activities. For detailed information about factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements, please refer to Sontra’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including Sontra’s most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-QSB. Forward-looking statements represent management’s current expectations and are inherently uncertain. We do not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements made by us.
Contacts: Sean Moran, CFO or Evan Smith, CFA / Erica Pettit Sontra Medical Corporation KCSA Worldwide Tel: 508-553-8850 Tel: 212-896-1251 / 212-896-1248
Sontra Medical Corporation
CONTACT: Sean Moran, CFO of Sontra Medical Corporation, +1-508-553-8850;or Evan Smith, CFA, +1-212-896-1251, or Erica Pettit, +1-212-896-1248, both ofKCSA Worldwide
Web site: http://www.sontra.com/