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Biotech / Medical : Chromatics Color Sciences International. Inc; CCSI -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Hank who wrote (4045)	7/10/1998 8:23:00 PM
From: R. M. Rosenthal	Respond to of 5736

(The below CBS Marketwatch commentary contains error re todays closing stock price of 5 3/4) Chromatic Color stock under fire Short-seller's charges take a toll on imaging firm By Craig Tolliver, CBS MarketWatch Last Update: 06:12 PM July 10, 1998 NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- As a short-seller battles it out with Dreyfus fund, the stock of the Chromatic Color Sciences has been caught in the crossfire. Dreyfus recently put fund manager Michael Schonberg on administrative leave pending a review of his handling of the $57 million Dreyfus Aggressive Growth (DGVAX) and the $216 million Premier Aggressive Growth (DRLEX). Last month, Asensio & Co. Inc. leveled a barrage of charges against Schonberg, accusing him of mismanaging his funds. Asensio laid out the accusations in an apparent effort to convince shareholders to sell CCSI (CCSI). In his 2 1/2 years of managing the Dreyfus mutual funds, Schonberg accumulated 1.8 million shares of Chromatics Color Sciences 14-year-old medical imaging firm. Asensio, an investment firm specializing in short selling for its institutional investors, clearly benefits should the stock suffer. "This is not a Robin Hood effort," Asensio spokesman Nick Kislby told CBS.MarketWatch.com. No brokerages have an analyst covering the stock of New York-based Chromatics Color Sciences, which went public in 1993. The company's net loss rose 70 percent in the first quarter to $1.8 million, with revenue increasing to $121,000 from $59,000 on higher income on its investments. Its higher loss reflects greater expenses that went into applications for patent and regulatory review. The firm hopes it will soon market its ColormateIII TLc-BiLiTest, a device to diagnose discoloration of newborns' eyes and skin. Attacks by Asensio have taken their toll on the stock. CCSI spokesman Richard Wool estimates that its shares have fallen 50 to 60 percent since the short-seller started his assault. On June 1, CCSI was trading at 13 15/16. On June 9, the day after Asensio's sell recommendation, the price plunged to 6 1/2 on heavy volume of nearly 5 million shares. The stock fell 7/16 to 5 1/16 Friday afternoon. Dr. Jeffrey Maisels, another CCSI researcher, disputed Asensio's charge that the device's market is limited, pointing to data showing that as many as 90 percent of U.S. infants will have clinical jaundice in the first week. He also noted that many of these babies will not show signs of jaundice until after they're discharged from the hospital, creating a need for testing in both hospital and out-patient facilities. See his remarks Dr. Ian Holzman, the primary CCSI researcher conducting the trials leading to FDA approval of the ColormateIII TLc-BiLiTest, was a featured presenter at the Pediatric Academic Societies' annual meeting in New Orleans in May. "The (CCSI) test was singled out as a significant advance in the diagnosis and monitoring of infant jaundice by the PAS," Wool said. Chromatics CEO Darby Macfarlane said that she and her husband, research vice president David K. Macfarlane, developed the device after the birth of their daughter, who was born premature at 2 pounds. Over a six-week period, the child endured heel, hand and head incisions to draw bilirubin blood samples many times each day. The new test diagnoses and monitors jaundice without the need to draw blood. Maisels, chief of pediatric medicine at William Beaumont Hospital in suburban Detroit and an authority on bilirubin infant jaundice, said ColormateIII TLc-BiLiTest has distinguished itself from other colorimeters on the market. He cited its ability to "accurately provide an estimate of serum bilirubin levels in babies over a wide range of gestation, in babies of all racial categories and in babies receiving phototherapy."