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TWST: We would like to begin with a brief historical sketch of Misonix
and a picture of the things you are doing at the present time.
Mr. McManus: We are excited about the fact that back around 1999, we
decided that we wanted to place a lot of emphasis on being a medical
device company. The reason we wanted to do that was because we realized
that we had a unique talent inside the company already here that can
apply ultrasound in a unique way to medical devices for therapy. At that
point in time, we started developing products in the area of
laparoscopic surgery, cosmetic surgery, neurosurgery and lithotripsy. So
we have a base of products that are out in the marketplace that are
unique and provide a benefit, and that's our present platform. The
second thing that we've done is we have recognized that we have to grow
that platform, so we have a number of products that are about to come to
market. About five years ago, we invested in a company that has a
technology called High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU), and that is
one of the most exciting new technologies that you hear people talking
about in the therapeutic medical community, especially with regard to
cancers. TWST: Would you tell us about that product?
Mr. McManus: When I was a kid, I used to take a magnifying glass and
focus it on a leaf and I'd get a very small sharp hotspot on the leaf,
but I'd put my hand between the magnifying glass and the hotspot and I
wouldn't burn my hand. In a prostate, we are using a transrectal probe
with no cutting to take this beam and focus it on cancerous tissue in
the prostate and move the beam up and down to totally ablate cancerous
tissue. It's a procedure that's fast, is getting good results, and is
minimally invasive. The patient leaves the hospital the same or next
day. We believe this technology can be applied in a variety of other
ways. We are using it for kidney, liver and breast cancer. We have
510(k) approval from the Food and Drug Administration in the United
States for HIFU treatment of soft tissue that would include kidney
cancer, so we'll be starting to use this fairly soon throughout the
world. One of the things that brought all the excitement together with
regard to this technology is a company called China Medical, a Chinese
company that has HIFU technology that I don't think will be approved in
the United States for a long time. They went out and raised money in
conjunction with a United States stock market listing and got a
valuation for themselves of $375 million on $28 million worth of sales '
you can imagine that got some people's attention.
Tickers included in this excerpt: MSON
For more information call (212) 952 7433. The
Wall Street Transcript does not endorse any of the comments made by interviewees, and does
not make stock recommendations.
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