IMATRON Sells 10 Heartscans For 20 Million Dollars....
Sharon:
We are on the way to Tahiti..... :>
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Imatron Receives Initial Order For Ten Ultrafast CT Scanners From
Heartscan Imaging Valued At More Than $20 Million
Scanners Will Equip Expanding Network Of HeartScan Imaging
Coronary Artery Disease Risk Assessment Centers Worldwide
SAN FRANCISCO, July 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Imatron Inc. (Nasdaq: IMAT)
today announced that it has
received an initial order for ten Ultrafast CT(R) scanners from the
Company's HeartScan Imaging, Inc.
subsidiary, valued at more than $20 million (including service
contracts and accessories), to equip new
HeartScan Centers scheduled for development over the next 15 months.
HeartScan, less than 50
percent-owned by Imatron, provides comprehensive coronary artery
disease risk assessment services
in a developing worldwide network of outpatient centers featuring
Imatron's proprietary Ultrafast CT
technology.
The order represents the largest order for Ultrafast CT scanners by a
single end-user in Imatron's
history; 65 Ultrafast CT scanners are presently in use at leading
hospitals and university medical
centers worldwide. Revenues from the sale of the scanners will be
recorded in the quarter in which the
scanners are shipped, which is expected to take place over the next 15
months.
HeartScan will use third-party financing to fund the majority of this
order, leveraging its strong financial
position following last month's $16 million HeartScan equity capital
infusion which was completed to
finance aggressive worldwide expansion. HeartScan is actively
evaluating proposals by major
equipment lessors for financing the ten-scanner order.
According to Dale Grant, HeartScan President and Chief Operating
Officer, "We have a growing list of
planned center sites in negotiation including physician groups
affiliated with Princess Grace Hospital
in Monaco, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California,
Johns Hopkins Medical Center in
Baltimore, Maryland, Duke Medical Center in Raleigh/Durham, North
Carolina, Mount Sinai Medical
Center in Miami, Florida and Alta Bates Medical Center in Berkeley,
California. Numerous other
HeartScan Center development plans are in various stages of
negotiation with leading medical
institutions as potential affiliates or joint-venture partners, and
they will be announced as agreements
are reached."
S. Lewis Meyer, President and CEO of Imatron said, "This Ultrafast CT
scanner order from HeartScan,
Imatron's largest yet from a single end-user, is another important step in our drive to sell scanners to a
growing worldwide market. Additionally, these sales enable Imatron to
build a valuable base of scanner
maintenance/service revenue.
"This year we have seen a surge in interest and demand for the
state-of-the-art coronary artery
scanning (CAS) capability fueled by the growing body of medical
studies documenting the ability of
CAS by Ultrafast CT to diagnose and assess coronary artery disease in
its earliest stages. Early
diagnosis enables those persons to avail themselves of medical
therapies and lifestyle changes to halt
or reverse coronary artery disease.
"Additionally," Meyer said, "Imatron's significant equity position in
HeartScan Imaging provides
considerable Company participation in HeartScan's growing revenue
stream."
Today's announcement follows the May 31 press release by the American
Heart Association which
referenced a recent study in the AHA's journal, Circulation, that
found that Imatron's Ultrafast CT
scanner "... accurately predicts heart attacks in seemingly healthy
people."
Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters
discussed in this news release are
forward looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties,
including, but not limited to, medical
studies documenting CAS applications for Ultrafast CT technology,
development of newer competitive
technologies, ability to engage in trade with overseas customers, continuing demand for CAS and the
Ultrafast CT scanner, ongoing product sales, availability of capital
to finance expansion and other risk
factors as explained in the Company's 10Q for the period ended March
31, 1996.
All of HeartScan's Coronary Artery Disease Risk Assessment Centers
feature Imatron's patented,
proprietary electron-beam computed tomography technology to scan the
beating heart at a speed fast
enough to "freeze" the heart's motion ... far faster than any
conventional (mechanical) CT scanning
technology. The Ultrafast CT(R) scan data can be electronically
converted by a computer into a
three-dimensional image of the heart clearly showing the coronary
arteries, coronary bypass grafts and
significant blockages of the principal coronary arteries. HeartScan
currently operates three Centers:
Seattle (affiliated with Northwest Hospital), San Francisco and
Houston (affiliated with the Baylor
College of Medicine), and has announced plans to open Centers in
Pittsburgh (affiliated with the
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center) and Washington D.C.
(affiliated with George Washington
University Medical Center) this summer.
Imatron Ultrafast CT scanners are in use in 35 sites nationwide, 65
worldwide. Imatron Inc. is primarily
engaged in designing, manufacturing and marketing high performance
computed tomography (CT)
scanners based on the Company's proprietary scanning electron beam
technology; Ultrafast CT is a
registered trademark of Imatron. Imatron's Ultrafast CT scanner is now
in use at major medical centers
around the world, including The Mayo Clinic, University of Iowa,
National Institutes of Health, UCLA,
University of Illinois, The Royal Brompton Hospital in London, Tokyo
University Hospital, Beijing
Hospital, and other major medical centers around the world. Imatron's
Ultrafast CT(R) is distributed in
the United States, Canada, Europe and India by SiemensMedical Systems.
Imatron's HeartScan
Imaging Inc. subsidiary provides coronary artery disease risk
assessment diagnostic services in a
worldwide network of Company-owned clinics.
/CONTACT: S. Lewis Meyer, President/CEO, or Gary Brooks, VP
Finance/CFO, 415-583-9964, both
of Imatron; or John Shaw of Sitrick And Company, 310-788-2850/
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