Contact:
AccuMed International, Inc.
Paul F. Lavallee
(312) 642-9200
March 30, 1999 - Chicago - AccuMed International, Inc. (NASDAQ: ACMI) announced today the appointment of Norman J. Pressman, Ph.D. as President and Chief Scientific Officer.
AccuMed International refocused its cytology business in October 1998 on Savant technologies that integrate AcCellT, TracCellT and AcCell-SavantT computer-aided optical and electronic imaging systems for early and more curable cancer detection and diagnosis. "Dr. Pressman's 25-years of experience in image cytometry and cancer diagnostics at federal, academic and industrial research and development institutions have enabled him to make tremendous contributions to AccuMed research and development programs. As AccuMed International has been refocusing on early lung cancer detection utilizing quantitative sputum cytopathology techniques, Dr. Pressman's decade of experience as head of the John Hopkins Medical Institutions Quantitative Cytopathology Laboratories has proven to be of particularly significant value," said Paul F. Lavallee, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "We congratulate Dr. Pressman on his appointment and are confident that his continued leadership will accelerate the future commercial success of
AccuMed."
The International Conference on Prevention and Early Diagnosis of Lung Cancer (Varese, Italy, December 1998) documented the growing global lung cancer epidemic causing more than one million deaths a year. The Consensus Statement from this conference indicated the pressing need for effective secondary prevention (i.e., screening) measures, and singles out the use of markers in sputum cytology as one of the techniques that "holds the promise of substantial mortality reduction from lung cancer". "AccuMed believes that it has developed and assembled key partnerships, technologies and product lines that could lead to a viable and highly effective lung cancer testing program to aid individuals with early and more curable cancers," said Dr. Pressman. "The Company is well positioned for success in this targeted market and anticipates achieving and announcing significant milestones during the balance of this year", he added.Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters discussed in this news release are deemed "forward-looking statements" under federal securities laws that involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements depending on a number of factors, including, among other things, the ability to maintain long-term relationships with corporate partners, the ability to bring products to market through the regulatory approval process, uncertainty of future profitability, financing requirements, and other factors detailed in AccuMed's filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
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Visit AccuMed's web site at accumed.com
For investor information, contact Paul F. Lavallee
Telephone: (312) 397-7455
FAX: (312) 642-3101
e-mail: ir@accumed.com |
