Mike,
Thanks for the "heads up" (a Bruce Lindsey term) on the WSJIA article on Helidac Therapy- I agree w/ you that Qdel could not have a better marketing partner- like I said before, P+G could sell horse poop to a racetrack. Also, talk about good timing, this 1-30-97 article is fantastic since the QDEL/P+G agreement begins on 2-1-97!!! Finally, the article confirms everything I was told by P+G about how the packaging, instructions, etc were developed in conjunction with senior citizens, focus groups of consumers, etc. Mr Frankel said in the 1-23-97 conference call they hoped to see results from this agreement fairly immediately, at least by 4-1-97. I wouldn't be surprised to see the results even sooner in the 4 th quarter. Remember, even without the agreement in place, QDEL blew the doors off the earnings estimates (4 cents per share) by 100%!! They can do it again in the 4th quarter I think. Even though costs will be slightly higher due to "free samples" to P+G sales force, hopefully increased sales of Strep a and H. pylori will more than offset the increased costs. Now, if we could only get the CDC or some other governmental organization to issue a statement on H. pylori and stomach cancer and the need for testing,....... Just think, we'll get to have all this fun all over again in a year or so when QDEL seeks FDA approval and then CLIA waiver for their influenza diagnostic test now under development!! Life is good. BOB |
