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To: S.C. Barnard who wrote (28737)	12/16/1998 9:31:00 AM
From: agent99	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 119973

NMTX: Heart Monitor Expected To Quicken Sales By JANICE D'ARCY This story ran in The Courant on December 16, 1998 A little company in Wallingford that has carved out a niche in medical technology is poised for big growth with the release of a much anticipated new product. Officials at Novametrix Medical Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: NMTX) are counting on their NICO - Non-Invasive Cardiac Output technology - to push annual revenue from $30 million to several times that in coming years. ''This is an exciting time for us right now,'' Novametrix President William J. Lacourciere said as he showed off the blinking metal box and jumble of plastic tubes his company created. NICO can measure the strength of the heart without any needle poking or blood tests. The alternative is a risky procedure of inserting a catheter into the heart. But NICO requires a patient to do no more than breathe into a tube. The machine uses an infrared light, as well as patented technology officials decline to discuss, to continuously measure the airflow strength and amount of carbon dioxide exhaled. Those calculations allow doctors to monitor cardiac output, or the amount of blood pumped through the heart. They are calculations that can be critical to monitoring the health of sedated patients during operations. With NICO, the little company - fittingly located on Technology Drive, just off Research Parkway in Wallingford - has ignited interest on Wall Street. ''It is a breakthrough product,'' said analyst Virgil Cilli, who follows Novametrix for Keane Securities. ''It has great potential. I think it will add revenues and earnings for years to come.'' The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved NICO in October, and the company introduced it at a trade show last month. Judging from the response, said Philip Nuzzo, the head of Novametrix's marketing, the company will have a hot seller when NICO is released early next year. Few expect that it will outright replace the traditional heart monitoring method used during surgery, in which doctors thread a catheter through the heart into the pulmonary artery. Because the catheter method can lead to complications, and is relatively expensive, doctors tend to use it on only their most critically ill patients. Analysts and company officials believe NICO will allow doctors to monitor many more patients less expensively and more safely. One analyst said he expects that the machine will eventually be used in 5 to 6 million surgeries annually. NICO monitors will cost about $10,000 each. But with a relatively limited number of hospitals, the company is looking to a little piece of plastic as its real revenue source. Each new procedure requires a small plastic insert to be replaced. The $40 replacement cost adds up when the number of new procedures is expected to be in the millions. Independent market research commissioned by Novametrix shows that NICO alone will generate $10 million in its first year, $25 million to $30 million in its second, and $65 million in its third. Novametrix already has dozens of patents, and product distribution in 84 countries besides the United States. Since 1978, researchers at Novametrix have consistently been pioneers in equipment to monitor the heart and respiratory mechanics, analysts say. Novametrix researchers began by developing neonatal equipment designed to help doctors monitor newborns that were too sensitive to have blood drawn. They went on to develop similiar monitors that could be used on adults and, within a few years, the technology was standard in operating rooms. The company steadily rose from a volatile upstart to a stable company with increasing profits. But in the early 1990s, a patent infringement lawsuit crippled the company. Revenue plummeted, and Novametrix officials fired close to half of their then 325-member work force. ''They would have been a $100 million company by now,'' analyst Cilli said. Novametrix eventually won the case, and has gradually recuperated. It reported a rise in revenue from its prelawsuit days for the first time in the past fiscal year. Lacourciere said the company rebuilt by focusing on its own original technology. Every year it improves, updates and minimizes. NICO itself is actually a combination of technologies the company created years ago. This year, the company has released two other new products, both of which have been praised in their own right. One, called a Vent Check, is a hand- held respiratory monitor. The second, called Tidal Wave, is a hand-held carbon dioxide monitor. So if NICO is not the hit company officials expect when it reaches the market early next year, few fear downfall for Novametrix. ''Even without the new product, this is a company with good growth potential,'' said Cilli, quickly adding: ''But I think [NICO] will do very well.''

To: S.C. Barnard who wrote (28737)	12/16/1998 11:29:00 AM
From: Nescom	Respond to of 119973

INCC News Wednesday December 16, 11:01 am Eastern Time Company Press Release Internet Communications Teams Up With Motorola to Bring Voice and Data Together Incc Helps Customers Reduce Costs of Communicating by Leveraging Existing Network Infrastructure GREENWOOD VILLAGE, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 16, 1998-- Internet Communications Corporation (NASDAQ-INCC), a leading telecommunications integrator and network management company, hosted events in Denver and in Colorado Springs to introduce innovations in communications from one of its leading data networking vendors: Motorola, Inc. Motorola discussed options for leveraging existing data networking architecture by fulfilling the requirements for integrating corporate voice communications. In attendance was a diverse group of managers responsible for the operation of voice networks, data networks, and networks that are either in the process of migrating voice applications onto existing data networks or to some degree, have already done so. According to Mike Berta, a network consultant for Motorola and speaker at the Denver seminar, ''Last year major data networking manufacturers were not interested in incorporating voice capabilities - now they are. There is a tremendous opportunity here for us. Products are going to be delivering toll-quality voice over a data network.'' Charlie Eazor, vice president and general manager for INCC, added, ''We're seeing growing demand by customers wanting to leverage their existing data network infrastructure - they're interested in the cost savings and efficiency. Customers no longer need to pay the high cost of point-to-point circuit-switched telephone lines to run voice applications. They can, in essence, run inter-office voice applications on the data network for free.'' Both companies expect to see improvements in technologies and quality of service in future products and enhancements. According to Ted Callahan, a Motorola engineer and speaker at the Colorado Springs briefing, ''Packet voice is coming on strong. It's where LANs were 10 years ago.'' Eazor went on to say, ''INCC's customers are the clear beneficiaries of technological advancements in communications. We're working closely with our major vendors like Motorola to make sure our customers achieve the full benefit of those advancements.'' Internet Communications Corporation is a leading regional telecommunications integration company which designs, implements, maintains and manages customized wide-area and local-area networks for voice and data. Founded in 1986, Internet is headquartered in Greenwood Village, Colorado. For more information, contact Keely Hawk, Director of Investor Relations, at (303) 414-7174, or visit Internet's World Wide Web site, at www.incc.net, for investor related information and a description of Internet's array of products and services. Internet Communications Corp. is traded on the Nasdaq market under the symbol INCC. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Contact: Internet Communications, Greenwood Village Keely Hawk, 303/414-7174 khawk@incc.net --------------------------------------------------------------------------------