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


To: Mad2 who wrote (108)1/30/1999 4:45:00 PM
From: DanZ  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 5582
 
Mad2,

I have to admit that the press releases from GumTech, GelTech, and Zicam are somewhat confusing. You really have to dig through them and make some educated guesses to figure out what's going on here. According to GunnAllen's research report dated 29 January 99, GumTech was forced to expedite the press release about Zicam because the news had already leaked all over the Internet. I don't think they had the press releases ready and didn't do as good a job in their haste to get them out. I'm going to call the GumTech IR department on Monday morning to clarify a few things, but here's how I understand the situation.

Biodelivery Technologies, Inc. is a privately held firm that discovered Zinullose(TM). The compound uses one of GumTech's emulsification gums to suspend the active ingredient in the solution. This appears to be a key to the efficacy of the drug and is one reason why GumTech is involved in the deal. You asked earlier why GUMM would be involved in marketing Zicam, and I think this is one possible answer. I'm an engineer, not a doctor, so maybe Dr. Howard can help us out here. I believe that Drs. Steven Davidson and Charles Hensley are principles of Biodelivery Technologies.

Gel Tech, Inc. is a privately held company that is jointly owned by GumTech and Biodelivery. I think the percentage ownership is 60% GUMM and 40% Biodelivery but this isn't clear from the press release. I will clarify this this on Monday when I talk to IR. Perhaps we can pull the incorporation filing on Gel Tech to see who the officers are.

The company that you found using the ABI, Gel Tech Industries, looks like a different company that is solely owned by Dr. Davidson. The company does not have an incorporation status according to the information that you posted, so it appears that it is a sole proprietorship. Incorporated companies don't normally use the term "Owner", so this leads me to believe that the company is a sole proprietorship. I don't know what relationship Gel Tech Industries has to Gel Tech, Inc., if any, but I don't think they are the same company. I will try to find the answer to this when I call IR on Monday.

The Limited Liability Corporation that was announced on Friday looks like a separate entity from Gel Tech, Inc. The goal of the LLC is to market and distribute Zicam. The parties to the LLC are GumTech (60%) and Gel Tech (40%). The thing that makes this confusing is that Gel Tech is jointly owned by GumTech and Biodelivery, but Gel Tech formed a separate LLC to market and distribute Zicam. I would assume that Gel Tech has a good reason for separating these companies and I will do my best to find out why from IR. Perhaps this simplifies the accounting for the companies when they divide the income. I really don't know, just thinking out loud.

Speaking of income, let's look at the different ways that GUMM can make money on Zicam. One, they are providing gum for the solution. Two, they own a percentage of GelTech, which owns Zicam. Third, they own a percentage of the LLC that is distributing and marketing Zicam. Assuming the product flies, GUMM stands to make money on all three of these parts.

By the way, it looks like the distribution for Zicam is modeled similar to Tylenol. Johnson & Johnson owns Tylenol but it is distributed by McNeil Consumer Products Company. GelTech owns Zicam but it is distributed by the newly formed LLC. Tylenol has its own website at tylenol.com and is mentioned at jnj.com. Zicam has its own website at zicam.com. I point this out because this method of organization might be a standard in the drug industry.

One more tidbit...Check out geltech.com. It is another company by the name of Gel Tech but it looks like a completely different company operating under the same name. This can happen when companies incorporate in different states.

In closing, I'd like to say that we should all be here to help each other make money. I'm not here to wage a war with you, Bengalus, or any other short. It's to everybody's advantage, long or short, to sift through what we have and try to understand the situation. I could be misinterpreting something, you could be misinterpreting something, somebody else might be misinterpreting something, and we might be acting on that misinterpretation. I have always avoided personal attacks on SI and plan to continue doing so. Working cooperatively is to everyone's advantage whether you are short or long GUMM.

PS: I have a cold right now and want to see if Zicam works. I called two local Albertsons stores and they don't have it yet. If I can't find it by Monday, I will probably order it from the website. If I get it in time, I will report back how it works. My cold started last Wednesday so it is going on five days.



To: Mad2 who wrote (108)1/30/1999 6:53:00 PM
From: out_of_the_loop  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 5582
 
I don't want to engage you shorts. If you or anyone else thinks the Gel Tech company is fishy or whatever term you shorts want to use, their number is after their Jan 27 press release. Rather than taking short positions and scaring people, or insulting their integrity like bengaloser, I simply pick up the phone and talk to the operatives. Living in the LA area, I could just go there if I wished, but the point of this message is to let you and other skeptics know that they can actually talk to the people who run these companies, and get your questions answered, by picking up a phone.

Or you can be completely anonymous,short the stock and make inaccurate comments about it, and try to scare people out of their positions. You two have made the choice & I have made mine.

All shorts have to buy sometime.