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Biotech / Medical : GUMM - Eliminate the Common Cold -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: DanZ who wrote (3631)	1/28/2001 11:26:00 AM
From: DanZ	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 5582

I wanted to edit the last sentence but got sidetracked and ran out of time. With reference to <People take OTC remedies that make them feel lousy and aren't that effective>... I meant to say that people spend about $2 billion in the US alone on OTC cold remedies. Most of them make you feel lousy, and the ones with PPA can cause strokes and were removed from the market by FDA action. The numbers suggest that OTC cold remedies have value to consumers even though most of them aren't very effective. Zicam has been clinically proven to reduce the duration and severity of cold symptoms, and based on my personal experiences, and that of many people I know, it works as advertised. This is not an issue of whether Zicam works. It is an issue of marketing, product awareness, and getting people to try something new that they might not have heard of yet. If Gum Tech doesn't successfully market Zicam on their own this cold season, I feel strongly that they will partner with a company that can. Zicam has value whether Gum Tech successfully markets it or not because the patent represents at least a billion dollars in sales over the life of the patent to a company that can effectively market the product. That might be Gel Tech alone, it might be a joint venture between Gel Tech and another company, it might be a joint venture between Gum Tech and another company, or it might be another company that Gel Tech sells out to entirely. I'm sure that CSFB is in the thick of weighing all the options and will advise Gum Tech to maximize shareholder value.