New director with connections to investment funds; things are all falling into the right places.
Dickj
Subject:
Response Biomedical Appoints New Director
Date:
Fri, 25 Jan 2002 08:07:25 -0800
From:
John Gomez <jgomez@responsebio.com>
RESPONSE BIOMEDICAL CORP.
8855 Northbrook Court
Burnaby, British Columbia
Canada V5J 5J1
Canadian Venture Exchange: RBM
NEWS RELEASE
rESPONSE BIOMEDICAL APPOINTS NEW DIRECTOR to Board
Vancouver, British Columbia, January 25, 2002 - Response Biomedical Corp.
(RBM: CDNX), developer of the RAMP* diagnostic system, announces the
appointment of Dr. Dominique Merz, Principal of Knightsbridge Asset
Management of Newport Beach, California, to the Company's Board of
Directors.
Dr. Merz, who earned an undergraduate degree in law, an MBA and a Ph.D. in
economics from the University of Basle, Switzerland, has enjoyed a
successful career in international business and venture capital over the
past 14 years. In addition to serving as Principal of Knightsbridge, which
manages discretionary client accounts and a hedge fund, Dr. Merz is an
active member of two consortiums that invest in early-stage technology
companies. The focus of the first group is largely Swiss-based, while the
second group concentrates on opportunities in southern California. Prior to
1998, Dr. Merz managed start-ups and turnaround situations, and acted as a
strategist for international companies and governments. Dr. Merz also has
diagnostics industry experience having previously been employed at Roche
Pharmaceuticals (Holdings) Inc., of Basle, Switzerland.
"The broad scope of Dominique's business experience is of tremendous value
to the Company," stated Bill Radvak, President and CEO of Response
Biomedical Corp. "In the near term, he will be of great assistance in our
efforts to access the U.S. capital markets."
"With recent U.S. FDA clearance for its proprietary RAMP* System, I am
convinced Response's technology can become a leading point-of-care system
for medical and environmental diagnostics," said Dr. Merz. "I look forward
to working with the management team to meet the Company's capital
requirements and to achieve our commercialization goals."
Response also announces the closing of the loan facility announced on
November 8, 2001, for total proceeds to the Company of $US500,000
(C$794,140). No finder's fees or commissions were paid. Under the terms of
the loan agreement, the Company issued 780,995 bonus shares equivalent to
20% of the principal of the loan. Bonus shares were issued at the
Discounted Market Price as defined by the CDNX and no less than $0.15 per
common share, on the effective date of each tranche of the loan. The hold
period for 544,269 shares expires March 21, 2002. The hold period for
236,726 shares expires May 18, 2002.
About Response Biomedical Corp.
Response Biomedical develops quantitative, diagnostic tests for use with its
proprietary RAMP Reader intended to be used for clinical, STAT-lab and
point-of-care applications. The RAMP system is easy-to-use, cost effective,
and delivers accurate and reliable results in less than fifteen minutes,
considerably faster than traditional laboratory testing.
On January 8, 2002, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration provided marketing
clearance for Response Biomedical's proprietary RAMP Reader for general
clinical use, and also the Myoglobin test - a cardiac market used in the
early diagnosis of heart attack. Approval in Canada is pending, and two
other cardiac markers are in late-stage development.
The RAMP system consists of a portable fluorescence reader and disposable
test cartridges. It is designed to be used on-site, and by healthcare
professionals at the point-of-care including physicians' offices, medical
clinics, hospital emergency departments and laboratories worldwide.
The Company's platform technology has the potential to be used with more
than 250 medical and non-medical tests currently performed in laboratories.
Additional tests are in development for the diagnosis and/or monitoring of
prostate cancer, therapeutic drugs and environmental agents including
biological materials used in bioterrorism.
RAMP will improve the quality of patient care by providing immediate and
accurate diagnosis, and substantially reduce health care costs associated
with unnecessary hospital admissions and misdiagnosis.
Response Biomedical's shares are listed on the Canadian Venture Exchange
under the trading symbol "RBM". For further information, visit the Company's
website at www.responsebio.com.
The Canadian Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept
responsibility for the adequacy of the content of the information contained
herein. The statements made in this press release may contain certain
forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties.
Actual events or results may differ from the Company's expectations.
- 30 -
Company Contact:
John Gomez
Manager, Corporate Communications
Response Biomedical Corp.
Tel (604) 681-4101, Fax (604) 412-9830
Email: jgomez@responsebio.com |
