The following are my observations from the BLTI Conference held this past weekend in St. Louis. Please realize that I am not technically proficient to discuss medical lasers and I am reporting my understanding of what was said. Let me also state at the outset that the company is very firm that they will not reveal proprietary information on their business or marketing plans and they do not want to hype projections. I, for one, respect this and believe that this policy will work to the benefit of all shareholders in the long run.
Attendence
A total of about 65 people attended the conference.
- 9 BLTI staff
- 4 speakers.
- 11 representatives from 4 existing or potential future distributors including: the German distributor, 1 from a potential Canadian Distributor, 7 individuals representing a potential distributorship in Japan and Korea, and 2 representing a potential distributorship in the U.S.
- 4 or 5 investors.
- Remainder were doctors and dentists in a ratio of about 2:1 respectively.
I was told that the original invitation list for doctors & dentists was regional, but they received interest and had attendees from all across the country. Most of the dentists attending seemed to already own Laser-35 from BLTI.
News
- The company is beginning to build a sales organization with both a National Director for Dental Sales and a Midwest Sales Manager appointed and beginning work last week. Both of these individuals came directly from Premier Laser. Two more sales managers (East & West) are in the works.
- LaZerBrush will receive a limited launch in the 4th quarter. It will be marketed over the internet with a web site www.lazerbrush.com. BLTI will also have a web site, www.biolase.com (neither is active yet). Full launch with the infomercial will be done once they have approval to make the claim that it "neutralizes bacteria in the mouth." They said that this product, when used twice a day (45 seconds each) with the special brushing gel, (I thought it tasted really good) will whiten teeth up to 7 shades.
- Dermalase is completely ready for market. I was told that ramp up is going very well and production capacity is 10 units per week (Dermalase + Millennium).
- Millennium has been used successfully for a crown prep in Germany, although the company is not making a claim that it can be used as such.
- The American Dental Association has named BLTI among all of the dental laser companies to its "Best in New Technology Series." Sorry, I don't have details on this or what it means.
Dermalase
- According to Dr. Greg Chernoff (see my earlier note on presenters), Dermalase will be most useful for what he called a "refreshing peel." This was said to be an up and coming sector of the market for 35-45 year olds. This is currently done with a chemical peel, but the doctor has much more control with the laser. The Dermalase can be used in either the Hydrokinetic mode with the water spray or without the water for a deeper treatment. The Dermalase would not be as useful for deep wrinkle removal and would therefore not replace the CO2 laser.
- In talking to several doctors, this equipment would be very useful as many patients do not want to have such a severe treatment with a many week recovery period.
- There was also some discussion that it might be possible to add a topical anesthetic to the water spray. By doing this, there might be no need for anesthetic injections (one doctor said that the injection(s) were what his patients feared the most) as the spray would give an immediate numbing. Again, I'm sorry, I didn't fully understand this discussion, but it sounded very, very promising.
Millennium
- Millenium is currently FDA approved for soft tissue dental work.
- The unit is tailored very well for the dental market with several different hand pieces that range all the way from straight to 90 deg. The angled hand pieces were said to be proprietary and as I could see, well received by the dentists.
- This laser cannot "drill" existing amalgam fillings. The dentist would have to cut around the metal and then pop the filling out.
- As mentioned above, the equipment has been used in Germany for a crown prep.
- The dentists were enthusiastic with their participation in the hands on demonstration. FWIW, I also used the equipment on the sample teeth and skin provided and found it easy to use and control.
Distributors
- Based on the new National Director Dental Laser Sales title and the fact that there was a potential U.S. distributor familiar with the dermatolgical market present, I am guessing the Dermalase will be sold primarily through a distributor in the U.S. while Millennium will be sold directly through the company.
- The Japanese/Korean group said that the equivalent of FDA approval in Japan will take about 2 years. The Korean approval would be much shorter.
- In speaking with the German distributor, he was very pleased with the equipment. Shipments to Germany are continuing and they go out as fast as they come in. He told me they have 40 orders. He also said that they have had no breakdowns and the effectiveness is far superior to anything else on the market there.
Potential Market Size
Some figures were presented on the potential market size for the equipment. I will post those figures in a separate note by tomorrow night. Needless to say, the numbers were huge.
In summary, I was impressed with management and the equipment. I found the management very conservative in the claims they made for their products and those claims to be very positive at this stage. I suspect they will have no trouble surpassing them. If you are looking for hype, this company is not the place to be. I believe, however, this is a company that will systematically execute its business and marketing plans, and in the end be successful and give the results we are all looking for.
Jim |
