FRANKLIN, Mass., March 1, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Echo Therapeutics, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: ECTE), a company developing the Symphony tCGM System as a non-invasive, wireless, transdermal continuous glucose monitoring (tCGM) system and the Prelude SkinPrep System for transdermal drug delivery, today announced that it won the prestigious 2011 North American Frost & Sullivan Technology Innovation Award in Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology. Echo received this award in recognition of the Prelude SkinPrep System’s breakthrough technology.
The Prelude SkinPrep System uses a needle-free, painless technology that removes the outermost layer of skin, the stratum corneum, to permit topical drug delivery or needle-free analyte analysis. For its initial use, Echo’s partner, Ferndale Pharma Group, has applied to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for permission to market the Prelude SkinPrep System to enhance the delivery of topical 4% lidocaine.
Echo is now accelerating the final Prelude manufacturing validation and scale-up in order to prepare for commercial launch and it expects marketing efforts of the Prelude SkinPrep System to commence in the third quarter of this year, pending FDA approval. The FDA 510(k)submission was supported by clinical data from a study that demonstrated skin anesthesia with 4% lidocaine was achieved within five minutes following use of the Prelude System, compared to the customary 30-to-60-minute wait.
“We are pleased that Frost & Sullivan has recognized the significance of Echo’s Prelude SkinPrep technology in drug delivery,” said Echo’s Chairman and CEO Patrick T. Mooney, M.D. “We believe that 2011 will be a transformative year for Echo and our shareholders and we feel that this recognition is well-deserved and demonstrates the value of our technology.”
The Frost & Sullivan Award for Technology Innovation of the Year is given for the development and introduction of a new technology, a well-designed product family as well as significant product performance contributions. Frost & Sullivan found Echo’s performance superior to its key competitors, based on analytical tools that integrate both quantitative and qualitative metrics.
“Prelude SkinPrep overcomes the primary obstacle to achieving therapeutic drug levels via the transdermal route the brick-and-mortar-like stratum corneum - making it possible to transdermally deliver a compound in a manner that preserves the integrity of the skin, reduces the risk of infection, and improves the quality of care,” concluded Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst, Misty Hughes. “Echo Therapeutics’ innovative platform technology goes beyond the function and capabilities of traditional passive transdermal technologies, and has the potential to greatly expand the range of molecules that can be delivered and extracted transdermally.
About Echo Therapeutics
Echo Therapeutics is developing the Symphony tCGM System as a non-invasive, wireless, transdermal continuous glucose monitoring system for patients with diabetes and for use in hospital critical care units. Echo is also developing its needle-free Prelude SkinPrep System as a platform technology for enhanced skin permeation for delivery of topical pharmaceuticals.
About Frost & Sullivan
Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, enables clients to accelerate growth and achieve best-in-class positions in growth, innovation, and leadership. The company’s Growth Partnership Service provides the CEO and CEO’s Growth Team with disciplined research and best-practice models to drive the generation, evaluation and implementation of powerful growth strategies. Frost & Sullivan leverages 50 years of experience in partnering with Global 1000 companies, emerging businesses and the investment community from more than 40 offices on six continents.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward Looking Statements
The statements in this press release that are not historical facts may constitute forward-looking statements that are based on current expectations and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual future results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. Those risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, risks related to regulatory approvals and the success of Echo’s and its partners’ ongoing studies, including the efficacy of Echo’s Symphony tCGM and Prelude SkinPrep Systems, the failure of future development and preliminary marketing efforts related to Echo’s Symphony tCGM and Prelude SkinPrep Systems, Echo’s ability to secure additional commercial partnering arrangements, risks and uncertainties relating to Echo’s and its partners’ ability to develop, market and sell diagnostic and transdermal drug delivery products based on its skin permeation platform technologies, including the Symphony tCGM and Prelude SkinPrep Systems, the availability of substantial additional equity or debt capital to support its research, development and product commercialization activities, and the success of its research, development, regulatory approval, marketing and distribution plans and strategies, including those plans and strategies related to its Symphony tCGM and Prelude SkinPrep Systems. These and other risks and uncertainties are identified and described in more detail in Echo’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including, without limitation, its annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2009, its quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, and its current reports on Form 8-K. Echo undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements.
For More Information: | ||
Patrick T. Mooney, M.D. | Media: Richard Stern | |
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer | Stern & Co. | |
(508)530-0329 | (212) 888-0044 | |
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© 2002 2011 Echo Therapeutics, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide.
SOURCE Echo Therapeutics
