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

To: JanyBlueEyes who wrote (4914)	2/11/1999 12:12:00 PM
From: Bob Trocchi	Respond to of 5736

Janybird.. I have no position in this stock but I did make several points shorting CCSI some time ago. I was very lucky to have covered at 3 or so. I am beginning to feel it is ready to short again. The announcement I feel was weak although it surely is pushing the price up today. For example. 1. It did not mention at all, the number of hospitals that have "purchased" the system. 2. At a list price of $3-$5K, they will need to sell a bundle of them to even come close to making ends meet. 3. At a list price of $3k-$5k, they need to sell these without a sales person as the sales cost will eat them alive. What is their distribution system? In order reach the volume they need to meet critical mass they need significant demand (hence the limited time offer) and a clearly defined distribution system. At 3-5k per unit I doubt that many medical product distributors will take it on as a priority item. 4. In the announcement, it is not really clear if they really sold these first systems or whether they were shipped for evaluation. Note the "spin" on the wording. When I see words like limited time offer and evaluation, I get the feeling they are shipping these to some hospitals for testing and then hopefully they will purchase and CCSI can begin to use them as reference accounts. >>The first hospitals having placed purchase orders for the systems under the Limited Time Offer have been scheduled for in-servicing over the next week and will begin receiving the TLc-BiliTest(TM) Systems this week. The transcutaneous bilirubinometer has a list price of $3,000 to $5,000 depending on the model, may be leased, or used under the Limited Time Offer for use and evaluation of the System; all with either purchase of minimum monthly supplies of the TLc-Lensette(TM) calibration standards @ $10 per TLc-Lensette(TM) or minimum monthly charges of $10 per use under a Managed Use Program. 5. Finally, their total cash of approx. $6.0M and a prior 12 month loss of $7.0M indicates they need a shot of financing which I suspect will be dilutive. I surely can be very wrong in my assessment. I will continue to follow CCSI closely. Surely as we speak, longs are in the drivers seat today as it is up 1 at 12.7% Good Luck Bob T.

To: JanyBlueEyes who wrote (4914)	2/16/1999 11:45:00 AM
From: JanyBlueEyes	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 5736

NEW YORK POST, TUESDAY FEBRUARY 16, 1999 Inventor mom curbs tears After her baby endured painful tests for jaundice, former soap opera star Darby Macfarlane created a device soon to be used at hospitals across the country By Samme Chittum When Darby Macfarlane's daughter Scarlet was born premature and jaundiced, part of the ordeal was an endless series of needle pricks. "They ended up shaving her hair to get to her head veins," says Macfarlane. "She had scars all over her body from blood-taking. As a mother, I complained bitterly." Macfarlane didn't just get angry; she got inventive. The result is a pain-free optical device that will forever change the way babies are monitored for jaundice. Macfarlane, a former soap opera regular (on "Guiding Light") turned businesswoman, is proud of her brain-child. "It's so easy to use," says the Upper East Side inventor. "The babies sleep right through it. Score one for Dr. Mom!" She's dubbed the device the TLc-BiliTest because it measures, with tender loving care, blood levels of bilirubin - the toxic by-product that builds up when the liver isn't working. It is set to be introduced this week to hospitals across the country. But it took years of testing and patience on her part to win approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration last fall. Baby Scarlet, who inspired her mom's invention is now 13 years old. About 60 percent of all babies have their bilirubin levels checked at some point. Bilirubin makes the skin turn yellow and is the key to diagnosing jaundice, a common but potentially dangerous liver condition. Untreated, jaundice can lead to hearing and brain damage, say Dr. Ian Holzman, chief of newborn medicine at Mount Sinai Medical Center. Holzman says complications due to jaundice are rising because mothers and babies are being discharged from hospitals earlier. Macfarlane's hand-held device, which quickly registers the color of a baby's skin, will save time for prenatal nurses and avoid infection from needle sticks. It makes jaundice easier to detect in infants of all races, does away with costly lab work and can even be used in a doctor's office, says Holzman. Macfarlane, who was 40 when Scarlet was born, is now 54 and chief executive officer of her own company, Chromatics Color Sciences International, with offices in a brownstone on East 80th Street. Macfarlane originally developed her expertise in optics after she left acting and made money investing in beauty products that catered to specific skin types. She then used those profits to develop technology to accurately measure skin color. Following her daughter's ordeal, she put that know-how into her new invention - to check for yellow skin in a baby. The next step, she says, will be introducing her device to China and Africa, where there are plenty of jaundiced babies in need of care.