SAN CLEMENTE, CALIF. (May 20) BW HEALTHWIRE -May 20, 1997--At the Annual Meeting of Stockholders of BioLase Technology Inc. held Tuesday, Donald A. LaPoint, the president and chief executive officer of BioLase provided stockholders with a clarification of recent, highly publicized information regarding new dental laser systems.
Citing many inquiries from the investment community, LaPoint advised
the meeting, "Over the past few days, we have received numerous calls from investors who have read articles about the Food and Drug
Administration's recent clearance of Premier Laser System's erbium
laser for hard tissue dental applications.
"It was obvious from the calls that considerable confusion had arisen
regarding the nature of the technology employed in the system that
received the FDA clearance and the proprietary technology utilized in
the Millennium system produced by BioLase.
"While both systems use an erbium based laser and both have the
potential to replace the standard dental drill, the similarities stop
there.
"In fact, there are tremendous, fundamental differences between the two systems."
LaPoint then quoted Dr. Richard T. Hansen, a member of the faculty at
UCLA Dental School's Center of Esthetic Dentistry, director of the
Center of Advanced Dentistry in Fullerton, Calif., and a clinical
investigator for the Premier laser: "My clinical impression is that
the Premier erbium laser system removes hard tissues primarily through
absorption of laser energy and subsequent vaporization. The laser
energy seems to interact directly with the tissue, and it is the laser
beam which primarily affects tissue cutting. The water stream, which
is applied to the treatment site via a separate delivery system,
provides tissue cooling and helps direct the laser energy thereby
increasing cutting efficiency."
Contrasting BioLase's proprietary Millennium system, LaPoint continued, "Our Millennium system, however, is not a laser cutting system but rather is a hydro-kinetic tissue cutting system.
"A laser is used to rapidly energize and transform atomized water
droplets into microscopic, high speed water particles capable of
cutting both hard and soft tissues.
"Thus, cutting is achieved with a stream of cool, sterilized water.
Millennium systems are currently approved for hard-tissue use in
Germany and elsewhere in the European community, and units have already been shipped to our German distributor, Orbis High Tech, under a three year, $12 million dollar minimum purchase agreement.
"When introduced in the United States, the price of Millennium is
expected to be competitive with the announced price for the system
which recently received FDA clearance."
BioLase Technology Inc. manufactures and markets advanced medical, dental and surgical products, including specialized biomaterials for dentistry and other medical specialties, and products for use in endodontic applications. -0-
Note to Editors: The matters discussed in this news release include
forward-looking statements which are subject to various risks,
uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to
differ materially from the results anticipated in such forward-looking
statements. Such risks, uncertainties and other factors include, but
are not limited to, the effect of actions of third parties, including
governmental officials, the timely development and acceptance of new products, the impact of competitive products and pricing, and other risks detailed from time-to-time in the company's filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Annual Report on Form 10-KSB for fiscal year ended Dec. 31, 1996 and the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended Mar. 31, 1997. Actual results may differ materially from those projected. These forward-looking statements represent the company's judgment as of the date of this release. The company disclaims, however, any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements.
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CONTACT: BioLase Technology Inc., San Clemente
Donald A. LaPoint, 714/361-1200, Ext. 114
or
FIN/COM, Costa Mesa
Larry Selwitz, 714/645-8410 |
