PHILADELPHIA, June 13, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Echo Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: ECTE), a company developing its needle-free Symphony® tCGM System as a non-invasive, wireless, transdermal continuous glucose monitoring system and its Prelude® SkinPrep System for transdermal drug delivery, today announced that, according to a preliminary list of additions posted on June 8, 2012 on www.russell.com, it expects to be included in the Russell Microcap® Index when Russell Investments rebalances its family of U.S. indexes on June 25, 2012.
A company’s membership in the Russell Microcap Index, which remains in place for one year, means that it is automatically included in the appropriate growth and value style indexes. Russell determines membership for its equity indexes primarily by objective, market-capitalization rankings and style attributes.
“We are excited to have the opportunity to join the Russell Microcap Index,” said Patrick T. Mooney, M.D., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Echo Therapeutics. “We expect that membership in the Index will expose Echo Therapeutics to a wider range of institutions and investors, allowing us to broaden our shareholder base.”
Russell Indexes are widely used by investment managers and institutional investors for index funds and as benchmarks for both passive and active investment strategies. In the institutional marketplace, an industry-leading $3.9 trillion in assets currently are benchmarked to them. Russell calculates more than 80,000 benchmarks daily covering approximately 98 percent of the investable market globally, 83 countries and more than 10,000 securities.
Annual reconstitution of Russell Indexes captures the 4,000 largest U.S. stocks as of the end of May, ranking them by total market capitalization to create the Russell 3000® Index and Russell Microcap Index. These investment tools originated from Russell’s multi-manager investment business in the early 1980s when the company saw the need for a more objective, market-driven set of benchmarks in order to evaluate outside investment managers.
Total returns data for the Russell Microcap and other Russell Indexes is available at http://www.russell.com/indexes/data/US_Equity/Russell_US_Index_returns.asp.
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.
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 ongoing studies, including the safety and 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, 2011, 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:
Christine H. Olimpio
Director, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications
(215) 717-4104
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SOURCE Echo Therapeutics, Inc.