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Microcap & Penny Stocks : AMERICAN BIOMED, Minimally Invasive Technology (ABMI) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Dan A. who wrote (2148)	11/13/1998 12:48:00 PM
From: Jeffrey L. Henken	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2887

Great post. I would love to think that someday American BioMed would be able to sell enough catheters to actually make a profit. If they could I think it only makes sense that the money should be used to fund further R&D. I just don't think it's going to happen in the near future. The 100% silicone catheter line has never sold near as well as any shareholder might have hoped. Is that because of the distributor system or the products themselves? It doesn't really matter because even a better mouse trap does not necessarily outsell the competition. A competitive advantage can be out muscled by competition. Such was the case with Sony's Beta vs VHS. Before the Ahn Thrombectomy Catheter began to be sold the average price that American BioMed received on the sale of a catheter was around $22. I obtained this figure by doing a little math based on numbers obtained in the Edgar filings. The Ahn Thrombectomy Catheter will obviously cost more than that average price but I have no idea what the profit margin is on any of these products. Although we currently have what is described as a "World Class Distribution Network" in place throughout North America and much of the world there is no reason in my opinion to believe we are heading for a huge quarter. My hesitations along those lines are based on the fact that American BioMed has never operated with any excess of working capital since Steve Rash appeared on the scene. Even Dr Summers admitted that it seemed to make no difference when it came to reducing losses whether they had a huge sales force or a very limited one. There is simply too much competition in the majority of the areas that the 100% silicone catheter line competes. The one possible exception would be the Ahn Thrombectomy Catheter because it was the one and only fully developed and FDA approved product designed by American BioMed's chief clinical scientist Dr Samuel S Ahn. There are some very real advantages to using this catheter. After discussing those advantages with Dr Ahn and one of the independent American BioMed product line salesmen I have come to the conclusion that sales this catheter would indeed benefit from an increased sales force. The trouble is that the market for such a catheter is no larger than $30 million a year in the US. Even with the advantages of a 100% silicone catheter it takes much more than the removal of a threat of a possible allergy to make a physician try something new. The Ahn Thrombectomy Catheter has a significantly higher safety profile for the vascular surgeon and the patient. I hope we get some indication of how well this particular catheter is selling in the upcoming quarterly report. I definitely agree that American BioMed needs to make progress on obtaining funding on a non dilutionary basis. I believe that this can be done now that the Dr Summers lawsuit has been settled. Finding strategic partners should be much more likely as well because everyone knows that there is no further threat that American BioMed will lose it's 27 patents. To me the stock at this level reflects much more fear than hope. American BioMed has a long way to go to really deliver on it's promises to shareholders. What promises am I referring to? Finding a strategic partner or two. Selling off non essential core technologies. Increasing shareholder value by insuring that the products in development like the OmniCath and Omnifilter see the greatest chance at success possible. These products could easily revolutionize the industry. Especially the Omnifilter because absolutely no one makes a temporary arterial side microfilter device that could be so widely used in so many vascular surgeries. Regards, Jeff