®In the final analysis a successful company is the one that meets many goals simultaneously. A business enterprise is an instrument for public benefit. At the same time, it is a social entity whose members share a common fate. To fulfill its goals Sakura must provide quality products and services to its customers, without whom nothing is possible¯ Kenich Matsumoto, Chairman and CEO of Sakura
A mission statement like this is why Sakura has been around for 125 years!
A closer look at the NewCo:
A. An intial combined capital infusion of greater than $6 million will come from NewCo's partners and investors of which only Sakura has been identified. Gombrich reported that several other complimentary strategic partners have been identified and have given an initial commitment to join the venture based on the synergistic nature of their product lines, core technologies and international market positions. The key word here appears to be several. I wonder if they are going to be named one at a time for maximum PR effect?
I find this part of the press release most interesting. Why would several companies want to be part of the same research and development company? I believe they may be forming a coalition of companies who wish for their products to be totally compatible; thereby, making them the only logical choice for a laboratory who wishes to be competitive within a managed care environment. I believe the goal is to make the AcCell and TracCell the center piece of the overall intergrated system.
B. AccuMed will retain at least 50% ownership of NewCo with Peter Gombrich as Chairman and Norman Pressman as president. Clearly AccuMed is playing the major role in this new company! It appears clear that this company is building its future around the AcCell system! Note the comments of Takashi Tsuzuki when he stated that even though our product lines are compatible today, there is immediate opportunity to fully integrate some of our systems with future products like the TracCell 3000 and the AcCell-Savant.
C. AccuMed's contribution to NewCo will include its two-thirds ownership in Oncometrics Imaging Corp., as well as the advanced TracCell (3000 series), telepathology, image archiving and other identified products and technologies.
Interestingly AccuMed appears to be keeping all of their current profit centers including the Microbiology division and the AccCell and TracCell 2000 systems! It appears that they are carving out only the R&D portion of the company to allow AccuMed to concentrate on the manufactoring, selling, and support of the Cytopathology products.
It appears to me that AccuMed is in essence transfering the part of their business which drains money from the company to the NewCo which other companies are willing to help finance in return for the intergration of their products into the system. AccuMed will provide the management and manufacturing for the NewCo. They will receive revenue from all future TracCell related sells. AccuMed will retain rights to all current products and development on the microbiology side of the business; the current AcCell Cytopathology System including the TracCell 2000 Slide Mapping System; and AcCell 3000 fully-integrated microscopy workstation, due for market entry in the second quarter of 1998.
D. NewCo's initiative will be to focus on the further development of imaging-based cytopathology products that support the review and analysis of cervical Pap smears and other cytology preparations, including specimen collection, slide management and mapping, and critical data management functions. This will include completion of development, clinical trials and market launch of the advanced TracCell (3000 series) and the AcCell-Savant. NewCo will develop additional products, such as telepathology and image archiving, in conjunction with several of its strategic partners.
What do you suppose they mean by specimen collection?
In summary, this appears like a great move by AccuMed to me!!
They retain their profit centers. Others help fund the cost of research. The net effect is AccuMed becomes profitable earlier. Additional funds become available for future research. AcCell/TracCell become more compatible with other companies' products leading to more labs wanting an AcCell system. Sakura's tentacles are truly global including Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Oceania, Latin American, the United States and Canada. I just can't wait to see who the other players are. The metamorphosis we have been waiting for appears to have begun! The curtian has risen on Act II of Mystery Theater 1998!
Hopefully, the conference call will gives us a better understanding of what the future look like.
Cisco |
