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Biotech / Medical : VISX -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: bluejeans who wrote (1471)	1/13/2000 10:05:00 AM
From: straight life	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1754

Guess they weren't looked at too favorably... redherring.com "SEEING INTO THE FUTURE At the H&Q conference, medical devices and machinery were also big drawing cards. An official at VISX (Nasdaq: VISX), a maker of machinery that doctors use to perform laser eye surgery, took the stage to complain about lawyers. And why not? The company's stock has been down recently due to legal and regulatory problems. VISX competitor Summit Technology (Nasdaq: BEAM), a distant second in market share, has faced similar issues. But Summit CEO Robert Palmisano downplayed them and instead touted an upcoming version of his equipment, which he says is delivering a more accurate technology for sculpting the cornea. He tossed out figures showing that the number of doctors using laser eye surgery and the number of patients receiving it should climb by about 50 percent this year. Mr. Palmisano also says he expects Summit's market share to climb from around 16 percent to "the mid-20s." But prior to his talk, he showed a standard disclaimer slide that effectively states that anything the speaker says may be wrong. Despite the rosy projections, the laser vendors may be headed for hard times. Michael Murphy, editor of the California Technology Stock Letter, says the plummeting price doctors charge for the surgeries may take their toll on such companies. Currently, doctors must pay the equipment makers $250 per eye. But as surgery prices fall, says Mr. Murphy, so will the royalty fee. Mr. Murphy notes that the price of surgery for two eyes has fallen in price to $3,000 from the $4,000 to $5,000 range a year ago. He expects at least one vision center operator to begin charging as little as $1,500 within the next year."