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Biotech / Medical : ACMI - Accumed Inc. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Sigmund who wrote (1497)	3/5/1998 1:20:00 PM
From: Frank Buck	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 1894

Sigmund, I like it ! I'll like it more when I see the cash reflected in the cash column of the Company Balance Sheet. If AccuMed is going to be selling off the molecularbiology division this should include the: Alamar Blue Technology, M.I.C. broth panels, recently approved Kirby Bauer reader, E.S.P. Blood Culture...etc. The obvious concern is that AccuMed is selling off the meat and potatoes revenue producer. On the same token we have always expected the cytopathology business to eventually become the primary revenue generator going forward. I do believe that AccuMed has "hit the wall" with the small double digit percent of the market that it now has with molecularbiology sales. The growth of revenues beyond this point might have been minimal. The sale price of the newly approved Kirby-Bauer Reader will be interesting as will the sale (price) of the M.I.C. panels and the E.S.P. Blood Culture System that was acquired from DifCo exactly a year ago. The sale of the molecularbiology side will allow a cash infusion and a simultaneous cost saving...(not sure about the exact numbers). This sale should provide the cash going forward until the cytopathology equipment sales (Savant included) are sufficient to carry the company. The cash infusion (depending on the sale price) will have to pay off some of the debt in the revolving credit Transamerica?? loan...as I believe the molecular biology revenue stream was providing the "breath" for that credit line. Maintaining the integrity of the Savant device is fine with the possibility of an ensuing IPO revolving around it. No telling what value the street will put on that. That should provide another cash influx to AccuMed until they can achieve break-even or profitability from sales of the cytopathology equipment. Remember...AccuMed International, Inc. never truly had the benefit of an IPO and therefore never really had a large cash position like the other players in this field. Now that they have a product and are beyond the developmental stage with the Savant that money can really be put forward to excellent use. I hope there is a modest buy-back of shares in the immediate future.<g> I am glad that the company will be focusing on its core objective, which is the cytopathology business. The slow acceptance of any "totally new" or "enhancing" technology for the traditional PAP (HPV) testing procedure (by Labs) indicates that the AcCell/TracCell will not be leap-frogged for a while. Also by virtue of the Savant incorporating the AcCell/TracCell system into the design of the Savant-cytometric equipment it should provide the needed impetus to drive further sales of the AcCell/TracCell device. The use of that kind of technology, that is, the cellular DNA measurement technology, needs to be performed at a workstation and those workstations are the AcCell platforms. So, those technologies require AcCell reader workstations. Dr. Norm Pressman I wonder what type of timeliness impact this will have in bringing AccuMed to breakeven or profitability?? Let's hope that owners equity is increased by the sale of assets. That is an oxymoron in one sense, unless the sale price is higher than the revenues and holding costs of those devices. Operational expenses should decrease (but we were already told to expect that from the recently announced consolidation. Now we should realize an even larger savings through the total elimination of those associated expenses with the molecularbiology side. I would imagine that the remaining 33.33% unowned interest of the Savant device may (attempted) to be purchased. I expect the recent Blue Cross/Blue Shield Report and the internally generated AccuMed paper by Dawn, coupled with the expected independent Detroit Lab publication (expected in March of '98) to be the main driver for this recent action. I am sure that some hard hitting questions are to be expected for the upcoming conference call. Lets hope that they are not just asking; when the lagging earnings release will be issued. Do you have any good questions formulating?