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Of interest to SOTK and its new commitment to China:
Nanotech Gets Big In China
Josh Wolfe, Forbes/Wolfe Nanotech Report 02.01.07, 12:30 PM ET
It's no secret that China's economy is fast becoming an economic powerhouse, but I wasn't prepared for the signs everywhere of hyperactive growth when I landed in China last month to meet with numerous advanced materials start-ups and fellow venture capitalists. Shanghai and Beijing are cityscapes of cranes operating in every direction around the clock. Everywhere highways and buildings were being raised, and the presence of Western investors and businesspeople was ubiquitous.
Clearly, change is coming to China on a massive scale. But it is also happening at the nanoscale.
China is now rapidly trying to catch up to the U.S. in nanotech, and already U.S. startups are heading there for competitive advantage. The question for stateside nanotech investors, however, isn't how broad China's expansion is, but how deep it goes. The country's manufacturing infrastructure may be expanding at an alarming rate, and its markets are now opening to foreign business. But the country still has a long way to go as an innovator in nami jishu--aka nanotechnology.
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Lux Research reported last year that China's nanotech spending, adjusted for current exchange rates, trailed fourth behind the U.S., Japan and Germany in 2005 [Full disclosure: My venture firm Lux Capital is an equity investor in Lux Research]. But adjusting the figures further to reflect purchasing power parity (i.e., the difference in the cost of goods and services from one country to the next), China's investment in nanotech research jumped to second place, reaching the equivalent of $1.11 billion, compared with $1.57 billion in the U.S. China was second only to the U.S. in 2005 in terms of published, peer-reviewed journal articles on nanotech. In nanotech patents, China ranked third in 2003, behind the U.S. and Japan.
While impressive, these raw statistics provide only a glimpse of the big picture--and China's emerging nanoscape fills a very, very big frame. Depending on what pundit you listen to, China is presented as a gleaming investment opportunity or a looming threat to free trade. My read is that China represents something in between these two poles. It poses risks and opportunities as a commercial market, as a manufacturing power and as an innovator. In each of these roles, China deserves closer inspection than we can devote in a single issue of this newsletter. But we can get a better grasp of what the most important questions are.
China as a Market
With an integrated market encompassing roughly one-fifth of the world's population, China's opportunities for investment and trade are simply undeniable. China's urban population alone has risen by 200 million people over the last decade; that's equivalent to two-thirds of the entire U.S. population. Another 75 million rural Chinese are expected to migrate into the cities over the next five years.
With numbers like that within its borders, China doesn't need to be a technology leader or a global player to become a powerhouse economy. In other high-tech sectors like semiconductors, for example, China chose to build out its chipmaking industry operations with lower-cost, trailing-edge technology that could fill domestic demand rather than invest heavily in the advanced manufacturing technology it would need to compete with world-class chipmakers in Taiwan and Japan. Why invest in cutting edge manufacturing equipment to compete globally with Taiwan and Japan, when your domestic market consumed roughly two-fifths of the world's semiconductor output in 2005?
The question is whether or not this same dynamic applies to nanotech products. In one sense, nanotechnology is something of a fad among Chinese consumers. In an essay for Science magazine last year, the executive V.P. of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chunli Bai, cited examples of domestic companies boosting profits by simply adding a "nano" label to their products. He mentioned products such as nano-gas, nano-cups, nano-toothpaste and nano-beer.
These attitudes contrast with those of Western consumers, which are sometimes more circumspect about the possible health risks of nanotechnology. Even so, very few foreign nanotech firms appear to have tapped the Chinese market to date. One notable exception is Woodbury, N.Y.-based Nanosphere member Veeco (nasdaq: VECO - news - people ), a leading supplier of atomic force microscopes (AFM) used to characterize, measure and manipulate nanoscale structures. Most of Veeco's trade is currently conducted with China's institutes and universities, although it is also selling equipment to multinational companies who have opened tech centers in Asia.
In addition to AFM sales, Veeco is also doing a brisk business in other nanotech process equipment, such as instrumentation used to make thin film magnetic heads and LEDs. Overall, Asia in general and China in particular, have become an increasingly significant driver of Veeco's instrument business. They now generate approximately 40% of the company's revenues and represent its fastest growing region for sales. That's good news for Veeco, but it's less clear what this suggests for Western players trying to break into other nanocentric sectors of the Chinese market like biotech, energy and materials. Applications in electronics and life sciences are virtually nonexistent today.
Where China can compete strongly--both domestically and abroad--is as a manufacturer of nanomaterials. Players include Shanghai-based Yaohua Nano-Tech, which makes metal oxide nanoparticles, and nanotube manufacturer Shenzhen Nanotech in Guangdong. These and other Chinese ventures in the fields of nanoparticle-enabled coatings and composite materials could pose strong competition to foreign firms.
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China as Manufacturer
Economic and commercial dominance is nothing new to China, which had fielded the world's largest economy for most of the last millennium. A decade or two before the Industrial Revolution caught on in Britain, China was cranking out a third of the world's manufactured goods. Today, the relative cost of labor and services has attracted a long list of foreign firms that have opened manufacturing operations in Asia.
But countering the potential cost benefits, are lingering concerns about IP protection, particularly in highly technical fields. Many companies are reluctant to expose proprietary processes or technology to copycats, and opt to move assembly operations in China while keeping sensitive operations elsewhere. Concerns about IP haven't stopped companies from opening R&D operations on the Asian mainland. Veeco, for one, opened a research center operated jointly with the Institute of Chemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in Beijing. Also, in the Shanghai area, General Electric (nyse: GE - news - people ), Intel (nasdaq: INTC - news - people ) and Rohm & Haas (nyse: ROH - news - people ) have all launched world-class tech centers.
Another example is Accelergy Corporation, which, in addition to developing its own products for energy markets, also performs contract research in and beyond nanotech for mostly Western clients. [Full disclosure: My venture firm Lux Capital is an equity investor in Accelergy.] Despite its current client base and Palo Alto, Calif.-based headquarters, the firm opted to locate its R&D operations in Shanghai for two strategic reasons, according to Accelergy CEO Vic Sprenger. The first is to tap into China’s rapidly growing pool of world-class scientists. The second is a trend of scientific innovation and creativity. If true, that trend could evolve greater demand for improved patent laws and enforcement.
Earlier, I mentioned that China ranked third in worldwide nanotech patents in 2003, a detail that advocates of Chinese nanotech like to quote. Another way of counting might only include patents on file with the U.S. patent office, in which case China can present only 21 between 1995 and 2005, putting it in 12th place worldwide. China may not feel it needs to attract specialized industry operations to its shores. But if it does, the patent culture needs to change and the government will have to regulate and enforce IP more rigorously. Veeco's V.P. of marketing and business development for metrology and instrumentation, David Rossi, said he has heard talk of that, but he and other industry leaders need to see results.
Another trend I'll be watching for is a greater willingness among Chinese firms to form joint ventures and competitive partnerships with foreign nanotech companies. Today, the best and perhaps only example of this is San Jose, Calif.-based NeoPhotonics' merger with Photon Technology in Shenzhen, signed last year. Combined, the companies aim to advance photonic integration technology, which is similar to integrated chips except it shuttles around photonics instead of electrons. NeoPhotonics is backed by U.S. VCs including Nanosphere member Harris & Harris Group (nasdaq: TINY - news - people ).
There may be other joint nano ventures on the horizon, however. I've caught wind of two companies that had signed credible agreements in the last year. One to develop a nanoclay composite, the other to develop a heat transfer technology for semiconductor chips.
China as an Innovator
Measured purely in terms of years, nanotech in Japan and the West does not have much of a head start against China, especially considering that China can leverage the basic research already done elsewhere. On the other hand, technology in any highly advanced field evolves at an exponential rate, which can make it hard for emerging players like China to catch up. This may help explain the conventional wisdom, which is that China excels as a manufacturing country and as a market for goods, but not as an innovator.
Presented with this belief, Accelergy's Sprenger responded simply: "We believe conventional wisdom is about to change." If China's emerging nanotech sector hopes to compete on a global scale in the next six years, it will need to invest heavily in research today--and it appears to be doing just that. As I mentioned earlier, when adjusted for exchange rates and purchasing power parity, China's investment in nanotech research runs a close second to the U.S. Much of that largesse is going toward construction of 33 nanotech centers across Asia, but significant portions are also funding centers already in operation like the National Engineering Research Center for Nanotechnology in Shanghai and the National Center for Nanoscience and Technology of China in Beijing.
But some of the momentum created by government funding may be lost by China's lack of a nationally coordinated nanotech initiative. The government imposes high level omnibus vehicles for disbursing money and setting priorities. Lacking direction at the national level, much of the research done at the regional level is redundant or less relevant than it could be. Also, while the large national research centers are well-funded, smaller universities often have to find other resources. This has driven some of them to seek collaborations with multinational corporations based nearby, particularly if the corporation has a well-equipped tech center. From this trend, two others have branched out. One is that, in contrast to the basic research conducted by large government funded centers, smaller universities have become the de facto source for applied research --partly due to their collaboration with more commercially oriented multinationals.
Another, according to Veeco's Rossi is that the multiple collaborations of China's small universities often facilitates connections between the foreign firms they work with.Veeco's collaborations with Fudan University in Shanghai and with CAS, for example, could open inroads with other multinationals located in Shanghai. "It's almost like the universities are allowing cross-pollination between companies that may not have opened up otherwise," he said.
Looking ahead, Lux Research has projected that China's R&D infrastructure will not only improve by 2012, but is also poised to become a dominant global contributor. Continuing government support will fuel further growth of nano-related publications. Meanwhile, reforms under way through the Chinese Academy of Science will help researchers think more like entrepreneurs, which could help invite increased international patent activity, more risk capital and more partnerships with major corporations.
Excerpted from the January issue of Forbes/Wolfe Nanotech Report.
$300 million nanotech investment sees international facility
By ALAN WECHSLER, Business writer
Times Union
First published: Thursday, February 1, 2007
ALBANY -- New York is hooked on nanotechnology.
Gov. Eliot Spitzer wants to spend $300 million to create what he called an international nanotechnology facility somewhere in the state. The move follows the state's successes in attracting such companies as Advanced Micro Devices Inc., Sematech Inc. and Tokyo Electron Ltd. to the Capital Region.
Would it be academic in nature? Or are they trying to attract another high-tech manufacturer to the Empire State? Officials wouldn't specify, but said a major announcement on the issue would come later this year.
There's still plenty of room in Luther Forest for more manufacturing plants after AMD arrives -- but don't mention that to some local critics, who say that AMD will increase traffic and other problems.
But, of course, New York is a big state, and plenty of other upstate regions are dying for economic activity. Especially the kind that requires clean rooms and PhDs.
Locally, officials said they were looking forward to hearing more about it.
"New York has established itself as a world leader in nanotech, and companies are looking at it," said Brian McMahon of the New York State Economic Development Council, a professional group.
"I think the AMD project opened a lot of eyes, and made a number of companies aware of the assets we have for chip-fab here in New York," he said.
Assemblyman Ron Canestrari, D-Cohoes, said he also hadn't heard any news on the project.
SOTK moving at 1.05/1.08 following yesterday's intraday washout at .94/.95 on 240K volume for the day.
My thoughts on SOTK...
SOTK has a fiscal year end of 02/28/2007, so the Annual Report on 10K will be filed about 05/25/2007.
The Company's 10K filings only show the full year annual numbers, so investors need to do the math to back out the the fiscal fourth quarter financials from the 12 month financials. I did this for the last year 10K to segregate the fiscal quarter ended 02/28/2006 for comparison purposes (we will be comparing these numbers to the next financial release which will include the fiscal fourth quarter ended 02/28/2007). This is what I found.
The fiscal fourth quarter ended 02/28/2006 had the following key financial results:
Sales: $1.8 million
Operating Income: $269 thousand
Net Income: $377 thousand
IMO, the next earnings release for the fiscal quarter ended 02/28/2007 will be significantly NEGATIVE in comparison (year-over-year quarterly performance). Sales will likely be +/- 10% versus the prior year quarter, while Operating Income and Net Income will likely be down -50% or even lower. (I do expect the Company to remain profitable, only at a lower level.)
Therefore, I would anticipate the stock will react NEGATIVELY to the next earnings release around 05/25/2007. I would not be surprised to see the stock trade down to the area of $0.80 at that time (May-June).
(Disclosure: I do not currently have any investment position in SOTK, but will consider beginning to purchase ONLY AFTER the next earnings release.)
The Company is still profitable, and has an extremely clean balance sheet (one of the best among the microcaps which I follow). Therefore, I think in the Spring or Summer of 2007 SOTK will become an attractive LT investment. For now, however, I am continuing to keep my powder dry.
I will revisit my predictions contained in this posting after the Annual Report on 10K is released in May 2007, to see if I was on the mark.
Best of luck whatever your decision.
Tom
Hopefully we are seeing the bottom now but there apparently has been a big seller since the recent EPS report. More favorable news along the lines of new orders, a patent issuance or general rebound in the nanotech sector would certainly help things here.
Any thoughts on when SOTK's price might rebound?
Thanks... Aiming4.
Sono-Tek Appoints Vice President of Engineering
Thursday January 25, 11:53 am ET
MILTON, N.Y., Jan. 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Sono-Tek Corporation (OTC Bulletin Board: SOTK - News) announced that it had appointed Dr. Joseph Riemer as Vice President of Engineering, on January 23, 2007. Dr. Riemer holds a Ph.D. in Food Science and Technology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), focusing on food technology, food chemistry, biochemical analysis, and food microbiology. His experience includes 7 years with Pfizer in its Adams Confectionary Division, where he was Director, Global Operations Development. Dr. Riemer has also held leading positions with several food, food ingredients, and personal care products companies. He has served in the capacities of research and development, operations, and general management. Prior to joining Sono-Tek, he was a management consultant serving clients in the food, biotech and pharmaceutical industries.
In his new position, Dr. Riemer will be responsible for the growing engineering team at Sono-Tek, and for leading Sono-Tek in the development of new business in the food technology area. Many food production processes involve the use of traditional spray nozzles to apply low dose antimicrobial agents to both food products and food packaging and containers, as well as nutriceutical coatings directly on foods. Many of these applications would benefit from Sono-Tek's ultrasonic atomization and Nanotechnology capabilities. Sono-Tek has helped numerous clients in reducing the amount of liquid material required by reducing overspray, with the additional benefit of producing thinner, more precisely controlled coatings of greater uniformity. These technological advantages of Sono-Tek systems provide Sono-Tek's customers both cost and environmental benefits over traditional spraying and coating systems.
According to Dr. Christopher L. Coccio, Sono-Tek's CEO and President, "The addition of Dr. Riemer to our team is a continuation of our efforts and willingness to put in place resources that could lead to significant growth of the business over the next several years".
For further information, contact Dr. Christopher L. Coccio, at 845-795- 2020, or visit our website at www.sono-tek.com.
Sono-Tek Corporation is a leading developer and manufacturer of liquid spray products based on its proprietary ultrasonic nozzle technology. Founded in 1975, the Company's products have long been recognized for their performance, quality and reliability.
This press release contains forward looking statements regarding future events and the future performance of Sono-Tek Corporation that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. These factors include, among other considerations, general economic and business conditions; political, regulatory, competitive and technological developments affecting the Company's operations or the demand for its products; timely development and market acceptance of new products; adequacy of financing; capacity additions and the ability to enforce patents. We refer you to documents that the company files with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which includes Form 10-KSB and Form 10-QSBs containing additional important information.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: Sono-Tek Corporation
Another possible application for SOTK's ultrasonic spray coating technology:
Coated Nanoparticles Solve Sticky Drug-delivery Problem
Baltimore, MD | Posted on January 24th, 2007
The layers of mucus that protect sensitive tissue throughout the body have an undesirable side effect: they can also keep helpful medications away. To overcome this hurdle, Johns Hopkins researchers have found a way to coat nanoparticles with a chemical that helps them slip through this sticky barrier.
During experiments with these coated particles, the researchers also discovered that mucus layers have much larger pores than previously thought, providing a doorway that should allow larger and longer-acting doses of medicine to reach the protected tissue.
The team's findings were reported this week in the Early Online Edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The discoveries are important because mucus layers, which trap and help remove pathogens and other foreign materials, can block the localized delivery of drugs to many parts of the body, including the lungs, eyes, digestive tract and female reproductive system. Because of these barriers, doctors often must prescribe pills or injections that send drugs through the entire body, an approach that can lead to unwanted side effects or doses that are too weak to provide effective treatment.
"Mucus barriers evolved to serve a helpful purpose: to keep things out," said Justin Hanes, an associate professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering who supervised the research. "But if you want to deliver medicine in a microscopic particle, they can also keep the drugs from getting through. We've found a way to keep helpful nanoparticles from sticking to mucus, and we learned that the openings in the mucus ‘mesh' are much larger than most people expected. These findings set the stage for a new generation of nanomedicines that can be delivered directly to the affected areas."
To get its particles past the mucus, Hanes' team studied an unlikely model: viruses. Earlier research led by Richard Cone, a professor in the Department of Biophysics at Johns Hopkins, had established that some viruses are able to make their way through the human mucus barrier. Hanes and his colleagues decided to look for a chemical coating that might mimic the characteristics of a virus.
"We found that the viruses that got through had surfaces that were attracted to water, and they had a net neutral electrical charge," said Samuel K. Lai, a Johns Hopkins chemical and biomolecular engineering doctoral student from Canada and Hong Kong who was lead author of the journal article. "We thought that if we could coat a drug-delivery nanoparticle with a chemical that had these characteristics, it might not get stuck in the mucus barrier."
To make their nanoparticles behave like viruses, the researchers coated them with polyethylene glycol, PEG, a non-toxic material commonly used in pharmaceuticals. PEG dissolves in water and is excreted harmlessly by the kidneys.
The researchers also considered the size of their nanoparticles. Previous studies indicated that even if nanoparticles did not stick to the mucus, they might have to be smaller than 55 nanometers wide to pass through the tiny openings in the human mucus mesh. (A human hair is roughly 80,000 nanometers wide.) Using high-resolution video microscopy and computer software, the researchers discovered that their PEG-coated 200-nanometer particles could slip through a barrier of human mucus.
They then conducted further tests to see how large their microscopic drug carriers could be before they got trapped in the mesh. Larger nanoparticles are more desirable because they can release greater amounts of medicine over a longer period of time. "We wanted to make the particles as large as possible," said Hanes, who also serves as director of therapeutics for the Institute for NanoBioTechnology at Johns Hopkins. "The shocking thing was how fast the particles that were 500 nanometers wide moved through the mucus mesh. The work suggests that the openings in the mucus barrier are much larger than originally expected by most. And we were also surprised to find that the larger nanoparticles (200 and 500 nanometers wide) actually moved through the mucus layer more quickly than the smaller ones (100 nanometers wide)."
This has important implications, Hanes said, because a 500-nanometer particle can be used to deliver medicine to a targeted area, released over periods of days to weeks. Larger particles also allow a wider array of drug molecules to be efficiently encapsulated. He and his colleagues believe this system has great potential in the delivery of chemotherapy, antibiotics, nucleic acids and other treatment directly to the lungs, gastrointestinal tract and cervicovaginal tract.
Through Johns Hopkins Technology Transfer, the team has applied for patents covering this process.
In addition to Lai, Hanes and Cone, co-authors of the PNAS paper included D. Elizabeth O'Hanlon and Suzanne Harrold, doctoral students in the Johns Hopkins Department of Biophysics in the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences; Stan T. Man, a former visiting research scientist in the Johns Hopkins Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering in the Whiting School of Engineering; and Ying-Ying Wang, who contributed to the research as a Johns Hopkins undergraduate and who is now a graduate student in the university's Department of Biomedical Engineering.
Lai's participation was partially supported by a scholarship from the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada.
Digital photos of the researchers available; contact Phil Sneiderman.
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Contacts:
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MEDIA CONTACT: Phil Sneiderman
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prs@jhu.edu
Copyright © Newswise
APEX exhibitor preview II
Jan 22, 2007
In less than one month much of the electronics manufacturing industry will descend on Los Angeles, California for APEX. Here, in the second of a number of previews, are some of the exhibitor highlights
If you wish to have your company included in further APEX previews, please email details to ediors@emsnow.com
EVS International - Booth 2758
EVS International announces that it will introduce the EVS 1000 solder recovery system in Sono-Tek's booth 2758 at the upcoming APEX 2007 exhibition.
The EVS 1000 is a smaller, lighter version of the popular EVS 3000/6000, with all of the recovery performance of the standard and lead-free solder units. The smaller size and footprint help reduce the cost, but still provide a capacity of 10lb/5kg of dross, giving a rapid payback and impressive return on capital employed.
The EVS 1000 can quickly convert waste dross into pure solder in minutes not hours, while improving the wave solder machine process. This provides a cleaner wave with less maintenance, less downtime, and a reduction in shorts and bridging as well as the potential to discontinue the use of messy wave oils and/or dross reduction powders.
The EVS 1000 is aimed at small to medium users who typically have one to three wave solder machines and who must regularly dedross or use nitrogen to reduce drossing. This group currently comprises the majority of users in the industry. By using the EVS, nitrogen can be dramatically reduced or eliminated, resulting in significant cost savings.
The EVS 1000 will vastly increase EVS International's coverage of the wave solder marketplace and should revolutionize its total market penetration. For more information, visit EVS at APEX or visit www.solderrecovery.com.
Starfire Systems is an SOTK customer and is on the verge of a major expansion plan with their nanostructured ceramic technology:
David Michaels Joins Starfire As Chief Financial Officer
Posted on: Friday, 19 January 2007, 12:01 CST
Starfire Systems, Inc. announced the appointment of David C. Michaels to the position of Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Michaels comes to Starfire from Albany International Corp. in Albany, New York where he served as Vice President - Treasury and Tax and Chief Risk Officer. Mr. Michaels has extensive senior level experience in all aspects of domestic and international financial management at public companies including treasury, tax, controllership, and cost accounting.
Mr. Michaels' primary responsibility will be to plan and manage Starfire's financing strategy and organizational structure as the company begins a phase of rapid growth fueled by signed and pending contracts in the automotive and electronics industries. According to Starfire President and CEO Richard Saburro, "David's broad network in the world of finance and more than 20 years experience in financial operations, transactions, and investor relations will be a valuable asset to Starfire as we accelerate the commercialization of Starfire's nanostructured ceramic technology."
About Starfire Systems, Inc.
Starfire Systems offers a unique family of patented nanostrucured silicon carbide forming polymers for the manufacture of advanced ceramic materials and products. Starfire's range of ceramic forming Polymers and materials systems greatly simplify the formation of engineered ceramic products for new applications in aerospace, power generation, microelectronics, and transportation. Its team of materials scientists and polymer chemists engineer light weight high-strength ceramics that can resist corrosion and wear at most any temperature. For more information on Starfire and its enabling technologies and products, visit www.starfiresystems.com.
Source: Business Wire
No wonder SOTK has opened two offices in China, one in Hong Kong and one in Shenzhen and has a company website in Chinese:
LONDON: China is on the way to becoming a scientific superpower, thanks to the massive increase in its spending on research and the return of an increasing number of its scientists from abroad, a leading British think tank has said.
The report by London-based Demos, The Atlas of Ideas: Mapping the New Geography of Science, however, doesn't give a specific year when China would achieve that status.
But according to China's plan, it will reshape itself as an innovative nation by 2020, and could become a scientific superpower by 2050.
Nevertheless, the Demos report warns that China's long-term progress could be hampered by its rigid institutional system.
The final report is based on a series of four reports after a 18-month study led by Demos. The reports focus on the dramatic growth and pace of scientific innovation in China, India and South Korea, with the fourth providing an overview of the international situation and outlining how the UK should respond to it.
"China's Taiwan and South Korea made themselves centres for innovation over the past 20 years, and the Chinese mainland is catching up fast," the report's co-author James Wilsdon said yesterday.
"In fact, in some growth areas, such as nanotechnology, it is moving even faster than Europe," Wilsdon, head of the Demos innovation team, said.
One report forecast that the rise of China, India and South Korea would reshape the global innovation landscape. "The centre of gravity of innovation has started moving from the West to the East," the report says.
The think tank even warned that US and European pre-eminence in scientific innovation could no longer be taken for granted.
Investment into and funding of science and innovation projects in China is growing rapidly, and its impact on the international community is already significant, the report says.
Since 1999, China's spending on research and development (R&D) has increased by more than 20 per cent a year. It has replaced Japan to become the world's highest spender on R&D after the US.
The rising number of multinational R&D centers, steady return of the country's scientists from the US and Europe and the growing pool of graduates will help China realize its goal, Wilsdon said.
"Beijing's university district alone has as many engineers as all of Western Europe, and you can imagine how dynamic the potential is."
Here is a short bio on Google that I found on Dr. Joseph Riemer, the new cheif engineer hired by SOTK. Excellent background includes education at MIT and Technion and corporate experience with Pfizer:
Dr. Joseph Riemer received his Ph.D. in Food Science and Technology from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.) and his BS in Food Engineering and Biotechnology from Technion, Israel. Dr. Riemer has 25 years of experience in the food industry, specializing in Operations Management, R&D, Technology Transfer and Management Consulting. Dr. Riemer has served as Director of Global Operations Development at Adams Confectionery Division of Pfizer.
Very timely article particularly with SOTK's hiring of a new chief engineer with expertise in food technology coatings.
The convergence of food technology and nanotechnology:
http://members.ift.org/NR/rdonlyres/C0BB5515-A9CE-4D4D-894A-CB084DB2998A/0/0107nano.pdf
From SOTK's Yahoo MB today:
Sono-Tek Corp.- Cash flow looks +++
9 minutes ago
Management is doing a good job.
cash flow looks great and fundamentals look good.
Sentiment : Buy
zxag
Here is the BSX news favorable to SOTK as Boston Scientific is Sono-Tek's customer for its batch stent coating equipment:
Boston Scientific (BSX): Study favors Taxus over certain other stents
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Boston Scientific Corp. (BSX : Boston Scientific Corporation
3:24pm 01/16/2007
BSX on Friday said an independent study showed that its Taxus paclitaxel-eluting stent exhibited a lower re-intervention rate and equal or lower instances of death or heart attack than the Cypher sirolimus-eluting stent and bare-metal stents. The results of the study were published in the Jan. 1 edition of the European Heart Journal. "We are pleased that this real-world study reconfirms the strong safety and efficacy profile of paclitaxel-eluting stent systems we have seen across our broad range of clinical trials as well as in the millions of Taxus stent systems implanted to date," said Hank Kucheman, group president of the company's interventional cardiology business, in a statement.
Will Lyons - Thanks for your PM on my SOTK posting. I would not have expected you to sell going into the latest quarter (I would not have done so either), but as a new investor to this Company with no current exposure I am merely trying to select the optimal entry point to initiate a position. I completely agree this is a very attractive LT opportunity for an investor willing to hold through the long stock price cycles (3-5 years), and I fully intend to have a position by the end of 1Q2007. Just need to wait a week or two for the dust to settle before I begin to accumulate. Best of luck.
P.S. I just realized that I created an IHUB message board for AGTC a few days ago (I already forgot!) so from now on I can post there regarding American Gilsonite.
Aiming4 - Please read my posting #258 as a follow-up to my postings #246 and #250 (which you read and commented upon). My recommendations remain the same as they were in the earlier two postings (buy in the range of $0.80-1.00) following the earnings report last Friday near the close of trading. Thanks and best of luck.
Will - SOTK quarterly report just released reflects the concerns which I mentioned to you in my postings #246 and #250, in which I expressed concern that the QE11/30/2006 reported in mid-January would be a "negative earnings surprise" with potentially lower revenues and meaningfully lower profits. Now need to see where the price bottoms (I predicted a bottom in the area of $0.80-1.00 in those two postings). I would still buy at those price levels to initiate an investment position if we dip that low. Note that the earnings report was released late Friday around 2:30pm going into a long holiday weekend, so the price impact will not be fully reflected until next week.
Sono-Tek Announces Third Quarter Earnings
Friday January 12, 2:24 pm ET
MILTON, N.Y., Jan. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Sono-Tek Corporation (OTC Bulletin Board: SOTK - News) today announced sales of $1,624,000 for the three months ended November 30, 2006 compared to sales of $1,671,000 for the same period of last year, a decrease of 2.8% or $47,000. For the nine months ended November 30, 2006, the Company reported sales of $5,240,000, an increase of 3% or $157,000 compared to sales of $5,083,000 for the same period of last year. The Company's nine months sales levels have increased slightly as the result of continued new product development efforts, related marketing thrusts, and expansion into international markets. The Company experienced a significant increase in sales in its international markets, which offset a 20% decline in its domestic electronics business this year. The Company anticipated this decline in view of an accelerating move to offshore electronics production, combined with a slowdown in the housing market, and a reduction in the competitiveness of domestic automotive manufacturers. The housing market and domestic automotive companies are large users of printed circuit boards in a variety of electronic devices.
Net income for the three and nine month periods ended November 30, 2006 was $114,000 and $473,000, respectively, compared to $280,000 and $666,000, respectively for prior year periods. Net income decreased by 59% for the three month period ended November 30, 2006 when compared to the same period last year. Net income decreased by 29% for the nine month period ended November 30, 2006 when compared to the same period last year. The decreases in net income are mainly a result of increased spending on marketing, sales, and product development, plus some minor impact from older inventory write-downs and the impact of new SEC regulations that treat stock option awards as current expenses. According to Dr. Christopher L. Coccio, Sono-Tek's CEO and President, "We believe that some reduction in current income generation resulting from increased spending on product and market development is well justified in that it is expected to create future growth opportunities for the Company. We have been successful in creating new business in the medical device market, and in growing a significantly larger international business in electronics, medical device coatings, and coatings for new areas such as fuel cells and solar panels using our innovative WideTrack coating systems. Without these initiatives, the Company would have experienced a decline in sales related to the decline in domestic electronics production."
The balance sheet is improved from last year at this time, with working capital of $4,093,000 at November 30, 2006 versus $3,078,000 at November 30, 2005, and stockholders' equity increased from $3,595,000 at November 30, 2005 to $4,755,000 at November 30, 2006. The Company has total debt of $85,000, resulting in an excellent debt to equity ratio. The strong balance sheet and cash position has allowed the Company to make current expenditures in both new technology and geographical markets this year, so that it can continue its commitment to achieving double digit percentage growth in sales in the future.
According to Dr. Christopher L. Coccio, "We are continuing to invest time and money in the creation of new products and markets. For example, in the past quarter, we have engaged a food technology expert, Dr. Joseph Riemer, to help us explore and pursue opportunities for ultrasonic spray applications in that industry, particularly as that industry turns to coating technology that includes nanotechnology to prevent spoilage, improve flavorings, and to reduce costs. Dr. Riemer will be joining Sono-Tek this month on a full time basis to head up our engineering organization, in addition to pursuing opportunities in the food industry. We feel that his strong technology and management background will be an asset to Sono-Tek in the future. We are also collaborating with an oil burner company to develop a new, higher efficiency way of heating based on our nozzle technology. In addition, we are continuing the development of our WideTrack coating system for application to glass lines, textile lines, solar and fuel cell applications, and a growing array of nanotechnology based applications."
For further information, contact Dr. Christopher L. Coccio, at 845-795-2020, or visit our website at http://www.sono-tek.com
Sono-Tek Corporation is a leading developer and manufacturer of liquid spray products based on its proprietary ultrasonic nozzle technology. Founded in 1975, the Company's products have long been recognized for their performance, quality, and reliability.
This earnings release contains forward looking statements regarding future events and the future performance of Sono-Tek Corporation that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. These factors include, among other considerations, general economic and business conditions; political, regulatory, competitive and technological developments affecting the Company's operations or the demand for its products; timely development and market acceptance of new products; adequacy of financing; capacity additions and the ability to enforce patents. We refer you to documents that the company files with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which includes Form 10-KSB and Form 10-QSBs containing additional important information.
Sono-Tek Corporation
Selected Financial Data
Nine Months Ended Three Months Ended
November 30, November 30,
2006 2005 2006 2005
Net Sales $5,239,698 $5,082,730 $1,624,015 $1,670,586
Net Income $472,810 $666,378 $114,143 $280,203
Basic Earnings Per Share $0.03 $0.05 $0.01 $0.02
Diluted Earnings Per Share $0.03 $0.05 $0.01 $0.02
Weighted Average Shares
- Basic 14,359,738 14,111,339 14,204,448 14,048,236
Weighted Average Shares
- Diluted 14,456,779 14,417,106 14,298,155 14,163,279
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Source: Sono-Tek Corporation
A nanomicrocap with 22 consecutive quarters of profits:
Form 10QSB for SONO TEK CORP. (SOTK.ob)
12-Jan-2007
Quarterly Report
MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OR PLAN OF OPERATIONS
Forward-Looking Statements
We discuss expectations regarding our future performance, such as our business outlook, in our annual and quarterly reports, press releases, and other written and oral statements. These "forward-looking statements" are based on currently available competitive, financial and economic data and our operating plans. They are inherently uncertain, and investors must recognize that events could turn out to be significantly different from our expectations. The following risks are by no means all inclusive but are designed to highlight what we believe are important factors to consider when evaluating our trends and future results.
- Our ability to respond to competition in national and global markets.
- General economic conditions in our markets.
We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement.
Overview
Sono-Tek has developed a unique and proprietary series of ultrasonic atomization nozzles, which are being used in an increasing variety of electronic, medical, industrial, and nanotechnology applications. These nozzles are electrically driven and create a fine, uniform, low velocity spray of atomized liquid particles, in contrast to common pressure nozzles. These characteristics create a series of commercial applications that benefit from the precise, uniform, thin coatings that can be achieved. When combined with significant reductions in liquid waste and less overspray than can be achieved with ordinary pressure nozzle systems, there is lower environmental impact.
We have had a well established position in the domestic electronics assembly industry for many years, based on our SonoFlux spray fluxing equipment, which accounted for a significant portion of our business. Our SonoFlux equipment saves customers from 40% to 80% of the liquid flux required to solder printed circuit boards over more labor intensive methods, such as foam fluxing. Less flux equates to lower material cost, fewer chemicals in the workplace, and less clean-up. Also, the SonoFlux equipment reduces the number of soldering defects, which reduces the level of rework.
Several years ago, we recognized that the trend in the electronics assembly industry was a move toward offshore production into China and other developing countries. The change in the global structure of this business created the need for Sono-Tek to change as well.
One change that has proven to be successful is our diversification into the medical device market. In the past three years, we have focused engineering resources on the medical device market, with emphasis on providing coating solutions for the new generation of drug coated stents. We have sold a significant number of specialized ultrasonic nozzles and MediCoat stent coating systems to large medical device customers. Sono-Tek's stent coating systems are
superior compared to pressure nozzles in their ability to uniformly coat the very small arterial stents without creating webs or gaps in the coatings. We also sell a bench-top, fully outfitted stent coating system to a wide range of customers that are manufacturing stents and/or applying coatings to be used in developmental trials.
Another change that has stimulated an increase in business has been the development of the WideTrack coating system, a broad based platform for applying a variety of coatings to moving webs of glass, textiles, plastic, metal, food products and packaging materials. The WideTrack is a long term product and market development effort. Thus far, we have made successful inroads with WideTrack systems into the glass, medical textile (bandages) and solar and fuel cell industries. We plan to increase our marketing efforts into the broader textile and food industry markets. This will require a continuation of market and technology development in these areas in the years ahead. Some of these WideTrack applications involve nano-technology based liquids. We believe there is an excellent fit between the thin, precise films required in nano-technology coating applications and our ultrasonic nozzle systems.
In the electronics, medical device and WideTrack coating markets, it has been incumbent upon us to focus our attention and resources on the development of a much greater international presence. We believe we have accomplished this and plan to continue our marketing efforts. Our international sales have risen from approximately 20% of total revenues in Fiscal Year 2003 to over 54% today, and we expect to increase that percentage in the years ahead.
Past history shows the cyclical nature of the electronics business. This cycle, coupled with the increasing trend toward moving electronics production offshore, created a need to diversify. As expected, our US based electronics business has declined this year and is approximately 20% below previous levels, as a result of the trend toward production moving offshore, coupled with a slower economy and the reduced competitiveness of our US based automotive customers. We have been able to offset this reduction in US electronics sales with an increase in our international electronics, medical device and WideTrack coating sales.
The creation of technological innovations and the expansion into new geographical markets requires the investment of both time and capital. These investments are clearly shown in the year over year increase in both R&D and Marketing and Sales expenses, resulting in a reduction in our reported net income. However, the Company is in a good position to make these expenditures based on its strong balance sheet with an excellent cash position and virtually no debt. Although there is no guarantee of success, we expect that over time, these newer markets will be the basis for Sono-Tek's continued growth and will contribute to future profitability. It is management's opinion that this strategy will be a better one than being bound to a shrinking domestic market.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Working Capital - Our working capital increased $394,000 from a working capital of $3,699,000 at February 28, 2006 to $4,093,000 at November 30, 2006. The Company's current ratio is 6.24 to 1 at November 30, 2006 as compared to 5.33 to 1 at February 28, 2006.
Stockholders' Equity - Stockholder's Equity increased $525,000 from $4,230,000 at February 28, 2006 to $4,755,000 at November 30, 2006. The increase is the result of net income of $473,000, stock option exercises of $2,500 and an adjustment for stock based compensation expense of $50,000.
Operating Activities - Our operations provided $638,000 of cash for the nine months ended November 30, 2006, an increase of $333,000 when compared to the nine months ended November 30, 2005.
Investing Activities - We used $215,000 for the purchase of capital equipment and patent application costs during the nine months ended November 30, 2006 compared to the use of $135,000 during the nine months ended November 30, 2005.
Financing Activities - For the nine months ended November 30, 2006, we used $16,500 in financing activities resulting from the repayment of notes payable of $19,000 and the proceeds of stock option exercises of $2,500. For the nine months ended November 30, 2005, the net cash provided by financing activities was $343,000 resulting from: the issuance of stock and stock option exercises of $623,000, repayment of the outstanding line of credit of $350,000 and the net proceeds of notes payable of $70,000.
Results of Operations
During the nine month period ended November 30, 2006, our sales increased $157,000 or 3% to $5,240,000 as compared to $5,083,000 for the nine months ended November 30, 2005. For the three months ended November 30, 2006, our sales decreased $47,000 when compared to the three months ended November 30, 2005. During the nine month period ended November 30, 2006, sales of our Nozzles, Medi-Coat systems and Fluxer units increased. The increase in sales of these units was offset by a decrease in sales of WideTrack units and EVS systems.
Our gross profit increased $129,000 to $2,615,000 for the nine months ended November 30, 2006 from $2,486,000 for the nine months ended November 30, 2005. The gross profit margin was 49.9% of sales for the nine months ended November 30, 2006 as compared to 48.91% of sales for the nine months ended November 30, 2005. Our gross profit decreased $6,000 to $811,000 for the three months ended November 30, 2006 from $817,000 for the three months ended November 30, 2005. The gross profit margin was 49.94% of sales for the three months ended November 30, 2006 as compared to 48.91% of sales for the three months ended November 30, 2005.
Research and product development costs increased $150,000 to $597,000 for the nine months ended November 30, 2006 from $447,000 for the nine months ended November 30, 2005 and $67,000 to $219,000 for the three months ended November 30, 2006 from $152,000 for the three months ended November 30, 2005. The increases were due to increased engineering personnel, engineering materials, food industry initiatives and increased depreciation expense.
Marketing and selling costs increased $134,000 to $966,000 for the nine months ended November 30, 2006 from $832,000 for the nine months ended November 30, 2005 and $53,000 to $306,000 for the three months ended November 30, 2006 from $253,000 for the three months ended November 30, 2005. The increases were due principally to increased international travel expenses, international representative commissions and trade show expenses.
General and administrative costs increased $28,000 to $629,000 for the nine months ended November 30, 2006 from $601,000 for the nine months ended November 30, 2005 and $2,000 to $190,000 for the three months ended November 30, 2006 from $188,000 for the three months ended November 30, 2005. The increase was principally due to recording the current period stock based compensation expense of $50,000. We are now required to directly expense the effects of stock based compensation expense, a non-cash expense item.
Interest income increased $41,000 to $49,000 for the nine months ended November 30, 2006 compared to the nine months ended November 30, 2005. Our present investment policy is to invest excess cash in short term commercial paper with an S & P rating of at least A1+.
Our net income was $473,000 and $114,000 for the nine and the three month periods ended November 30, 2006 as compared to $666,000 and $280,000 for the nine and three month periods ended November 30, 2005.
The Company's backlog of firm orders was $253,000 at November 30, 2006. All of these orders are deliverable before the end of the Company's current fiscal year, which is February 28, 2007.
Thanks, I hope you are correct. The comments by Veritas in #msg-15754425 were good food for thought.
Since there has been no guidance that I am aware of it is hard to say. At the very least I would expect another profitable quarter as has been for the last 21 successive ones.
Schmoopy - any speculation or expectations for how the results will look?
SOTK's Q3 EPS report could be out by week's end as was the case last year.
Great news for SOTK as it is a supplier of batch-coating equipment for drug-eluting stents:
The New York Times - Market Place
Street Expresses New Confidence in Drug-Coated Stents
By BARNABY J. FEDER
Published: December 28, 2006
WALL STREET’S fears of a steep decline in the $6 billion stent business seem to have evaporated after an inconclusive federal regulatory review of coronary stent safety this month. Might the optimism be premature?
In their relief, analysts are now forecasting that the lucrative drug-coated versions of the stents, which prop open heart arteries, will still account for 75 percent to 80 percent of the domestic stent market in the last quarter of this year. That would be down from about 88 percent a year ago.
But analysts see it as a relatively strong performance in the face of many months of troubling headlines about potentially deadly clotting risks in a small percentage of them.
While the Food and Drug Administration’s safety panel did suggest that heart doctors take various measures to reduce the risks associated with the stents, it did not call for the agency to impose new restrictions on their use.
As a result, Wall Street is looking for the sales slide to end in 2007. Indeed, some analysts speculate that a rebound may already have begun.
“None of the physicians we spoke with have or will change their behavior, suggesting that market share and penetration may be stable or, perhaps, on the upswing,” Jan D. Wald, an analyst at A. G. Edwards, wrote in a recent note to investors on the effect of the F.D.A. hearings.
Glenn J. Novarro, an analyst at Banc of America Securities, was a bit more pessimistic in his forecast, indicating that the drug-coated stent share of the United States market could fall to a low of 72.5 percent next spring before rebounding. But, he told clients that he has not revised downward his projection of an 81 percent share for the drug-coated devices in 2008.
Some of the rebound might come from the expected arrival in the market in the second half of next year of Medtronic’s drug-coated Endeavor stent. But the biggest winner from a rebound would probably be Boston Scientific, the domestic market leader.
Boston Scientific became a major player in implantable defibrillators and reduced its dependence on Taxus, its blockbuster drug-coated heart stent, with its acquisition last spring of Guidant. But Taxus still accounts for well over 25 percent of sales and an even larger share of profits.
What if the current confidence in the drug-coated stent market is wrong?
How far might drug-coated stent use fall if doctors become much more cautious about implanting the devices, which cost roughly $2,200 each? That’s nearly three times as much as the bare-metal devices they have largely supplanted.
Stents are used to improve angioplasty, a procedure in which a balloon is inflated to clear a blockage in an artery. Stents were introduced to reduce the frequency with which cleared arteries quickly reclogged. Drug-coated stents have been roughly twice as effective at halting such reclogging, which allows more patients to avoid return visits to the hospital to reopen the artery.
But serious complications from procedures to reopen arteries are rare. Thus, even a slight increase in deadly clotting from the newer stents might be seen as a risk outweighing the benefit of fewer follow-up procedures.
Consider what happened in Sweden, a nation that keeps centralized records on every stent implant. Swedish use of drug-coated stents topped 62 percent at the end of 2005. Some Swedish hospitals used such stents in nearly 90 percent of the angioplasties where stents were implanted.
Then, as reports from many nations began circulating that clots were developing in the drug-coated stents months or even years after they were implanted — a problem rarely seen in bare-metal stents — hospitals began switching back to bare metal.
The switching accelerated in September after a cardiology conference in Spain that spotlighted the accumulating data. Sweden’s own data also showed slightly higher clotting rates after six months in patients that got drug-coated stents. By the end of October, the drug-coated devices were being used in just 25 percent of angioplasty cases — and just over 30 percent of the cases where a stent was used.
Dr. Lars Wallentin, a cardiologist from Uppsala, Sweden, who flew to Washington to share the Swedish data with the F.D.A. panel this month, said that the Swedish media had overreacted by labeling the drug-coated devices “death stents.”
But Dr. Wallentin said that the current use of the devices seems appropriate for now. He said Swedish studies, like some in the United States, showed higher risks associated with using drug-coated devices in patients with more complicated blockages and health problems than the patients studied in clinical trials for the devices. As in the United States, most patients getting the stents have been in such “off-label” groups.
Even cardiologists who are outspoken critics of stent practices in the United States, like Dr. Sanjay Kaul of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, argue that the medically justified usage of drug-coated stents is somewhat higher than current levels in Sweden.
But opinions vary widely. Dr. Kaul says clinical data supports use of drug-coated stents in perhaps 40 percent of angioplasty cases. But stent advocates with close ties to the industry, like Dr. Gary S. Roubin at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York, say use should actually rise from current levels.
Boston Scientific would be hit by a 17.5 percent shortfall in projected earnings per share next year if drug-coated stents fell to 40 percent of the domestic market, according to Lawrence Biegelsen of the Prudential Equity Group. A similar decline would nick just 1.3 percent from the earnings per share of Johnson & Johnson, the diversified health care giant that makes the only other drug-coated device currently sold in the United States.
It seems farfetched that drug-coated stents could fall that far. Unless, of course, there is more bad news about clotting risks.
SOTK trading down near lows. Careful of 4Q2006 earnings announcement around 01/15/07 for possible disappointment. If so then a good buying opportunity around $0.90-1.00 for a long term investment.
Thanks, I will keep your comment in mind and likely begin to build a position earlier than I otherwise would have in the area of $1.00 or a little higher. Still think best to wait for the next quarter to be announced in mid-January. I appreciate and value your thoughts as always. Best of luck.
I don't think it will be much of a surprise as we are aware of the effect you mention. Many start ups in the NANO sector are selling at high price to sales ratios as well as negative p/e ratios and only a few are in the black. IMHO you will not be able to buy SOTK below 1.00 after the Jan effect wears off.
It sure looks like SOTK's January Effect is coming two weeks early!
SOTK short term price risk is in the next quarterly earnings release for the QE 11/30/06 which will be released mid-January. The second fiscal quarter QE 08/31/06 included a lumpy sale which boosted revenues and profits for the quarter. The absence of such an item in the next quarter causes the risk of a sequential decline in quarterly sales and profits (a negative "earnings surprise") which could cut short an early January rally with the end of tax loss selling. I like this Company long term and do not currently have a position. I would build a position if the price declines to the range of $0.80-0.95 if the Company reports an earnings disappointment in January. Three year price target $2.50-3.00. Best of luck to all.
Here are my top 10 reasons for owning and adding to my SOTK position:
1. SOTK has generated net income for 21 consecutive quarters.
2. SOTK reported record revenues in its latest quarter and EPS of .02.
3. SOTK generates positive cash flow.
4. SOTK has no debt and one of the strong balance sheets you will find on the OTCBB.
5. SOTK has a Fortune 1000 client base.
6. SOTK used to be solely dependent on the electronics industry but has successfully diversified its product line into medical devices, food, textiles, glass and nanotechnology applications.
7. Nanotechnology is projected to become one of the fastest growing industries following in the footsteps of the growth of computing, biotechnology and the Internet.
8. SOTK has successfully expanded its markets into China, India and Eastern Europe, all projected to be fast-growing markets in your lifetime.
9. The management team is strong with the CEO having a senior executive position with GE. In addition management has begun to seek a higher investment community profile with interview at the New York State Investors Conference and with other financial websites.
10. SOTK has only 14 million shares outstanding giving it a tiny market cap of less than $20 million. SOTK is trading near its 52 week low due to tax-loss selling which makes the stock a very strong buy for significant upside potential.
This should give SOTK a boost tomorrow:
Panel dismisses serious risks of drug-coated stents for some
POSTED: 6:39 p.m. EST, December 7, 2006
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Drug-coated stents that prop open the arteries of about 3 million people in the U.S. don't increase the risk of heart attack or death when used as labeled but may put patients at risk for blood clots, health advisers said Thursday.
While the panel of experts broadly dismissed the more serious risks, they split on saying the clotting risk was real in comparison with older, bare-metal stents. They agreed only that more study of the newer devices is needed.
"There may be something there. From an evidence-based perspective, I can't say definitively one way or another," said panel member Dr. Norman Kato of the Cardiac Care Medical Group of Encino, California.
Another panel member, Dr. Steve Nissen of the Cleveland Clinic, said that the clotting risk was real and that only its magnitude was in question.
"There is pretty unequivocal evidence," Nissen said.
The panel also said any safety concerns fail to outweigh the benefits of the stents -- tiny mesh tubes used like scaffolding to keep blood free-flowing through the arteries.
Today, more than 60 percent of drug-coated stents are used in patients not covered by the labels, including cases when they're implanted to fix narrower arteries or more complex blockages than those studied in trials done to win FDA approval. The panel of FDA advisers was to discuss that so-called off-label use and its risks Friday.
The mixed verdict came at the outset of a two-day meeting of the Food and Drug Administration advisers, convened to discuss possible clotting and associated risks of the drug-coated stents. The panel's findings apply only to the minority of patients for whom the FDA-approved labeling says use of the devices is appropriate.
Benefits vs. risks
Boston Scientific Corp. and Johnson & Johnson, the two manufacturers with U.S. approval to sell the drug-coated stents, also said the benefits of the devices outweigh their risks.
FDA staff, however, believe drug-coated stent patients could face a small but significant chance of blood clots.
"Are you certain of that conclusion?" asked panel member Dr. John Somberg of Rush University Medical Center in Lake Bluff, Illinois, earlier during the day.
FDA medical officer Dr. Andrew Farb said he was, after acknowledging the difficulty of acting on that information.
"When we have rare events in relatively small numbers, to come up with sweeping conclusions can raise issues," Farb said.
Some researchers believe clotting associated with the stents leads to an increased risk of heart attack and death -- a danger the FDA said is unknown.
Boston Scientific acknowledges a slight increase in clotting associated with its drug-coated stent, the Taxus. The company said it has seen no corresponding increase in heart attacks or deaths.
"At the end of the day, the things patients care about -- 'Am I more likely to be dead or have a major heart attack?' -- the answer is 'no,"' said Dr. Donald Baim, Boston Scientific's executive vice president and chief medical and scientific officer.
Johnson & Johnson said there is no significant difference in clotting, heart attack or death rates between its stent, the Cypher, and bare metal versions.
Both companies said use of the drug-coated stents reduces the need for follow-up surgeries to reopen clogged arteries when compared with bare-metal stents. That accounts for the widespread use of the drug-coated versions since their introduction in 2003.
Multiple studies have suggested the risk of blood clots, heart attack and death rises in patients who stop taking Plavix earlier than now recommended. Some doctors recommend patients stay on it indefinitely until more is learned.
But FDA staff said it is unknown how long patients should take the drug, distributed by Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and Sanofi-Aventis SA. The panel was to take up that question later Thursday.
On Friday, the FDA also will seek recommendations for research on the drug-coated stents on the market or pending approval. Both Medtronic Inc. and Abbott Laboratories hope to enter the more than $5 billion U.S. market for the drug-coated stents.
Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Smart move, Aiming! Gotta love those microcap nanotechs with profitable operations and very thin floats ie: NVEC, CVV, MFIC and SOTK.
Aim
I agree that SOFT is in a tax selling bargain position, but have never been able to time trades in these micros. Looking at the current action on MFIC it appears very near a breakout at 1.85. Having followed both for some time I still have no way of choosing a preference! On the other hand i feel that both are better candidates than most of the NANO s that are selling at many times sales [LMRA] and infinite or negative p/e. It is not often that I am confronted with two such good possibilities.
Another point to consider is the size of the markets. They are both very low volume traders so it may be prudent to split the investment rather than try to accumulate a large position in either one.
Will Lyons and Schmoopy - thanks for your thoughts on MFIC vs. SOTK chances for price appreciation over the next few months.
The wiser move would be to invest in both, but I tend to go for the choice that has the larger upside % - as best as I can determine anyway.
To me that looks to be SOTK, but I could be completely wrong and MFIC could be the one that takes off in 2007.
I'm hoping and anticipating a nice upside correction to SOTK in early 2007... if that happens and MFIC is still at a reasonable level, perhaps then I'll put some SOTK profits into MFIC.
Thanks Schmoopy for your continued informational posts on both boards... I'm glad to know about a couple of well run small nanotech companies and to have something invested in the sector... Aiming4.
How close are SOTK and MFIC holders to a substantial stock price upmove?
Take a look at a couple of other "picks and shovels" nanotech capital equipment companies that have had big runs recently, LMRA and CVV. The missing ingredient (no pun intended) for SOTK and MFIC at the moment is investor-captivating news.
LMRA has no current fundamentals and a market cap north of $100 Million yet the stock was a quick 7-folder on a couple of positive announcements regarding new product developments and university collaborations.
CVV, which has outstanding fundamentals and a market cap just slightly greater than MFIC and SOTK, provided favorable news about orders and a university collaboration and proceeded to triple in a heart-beat.
I hope MFIC's and SOTK's IR are listening as their solid fundamentals are in place.
SOTK's trade show calendar updated:
See us at these trade shows:
Show Location Booth Date
YYYY-MM-DD
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Medical Design & Manufacturing Los Angeles, CA Booth # 1341 2007-02-12 To 2007-02-15
Apex/Printed Circuits Expo Los Angeles, CA Booth #2758 2007-02-20 To 2007-02-22
Medtec Exhibition & Conference Stuttgart, Germany Booth # 724 2007-02-27 To 2007-03-01
Nanotech research holds promise for food industry, say scientists
By Ahmed ElAmin
FoodProductionDaily.com
17/11/2006 - Discoveries in nanotechnology are affecting a range of aspects in the food industry, from food safety to the molecular synthesis of new products and ingredients, according to a survey of current research by scientists.
The four major areas in food production that may benefit from nanotechnology development are microscale and nanoscale processing, product development, and methods and instrumentation design for improved safety and biosecurity, the scientists say in an article published in the current issue of the Journal of Food Science.
"The fact that systems with structural features on the nanoscale have physical, chemical, and biological properties substantially different from their macroscopic counterparts is changing the understanding of biological and physical phenomena in food systems," they say.
Nanotechnology, which deals with controlling matter at near-atomic scales to produce unique or enhanced materials, products and devices, has been touted as the next revolution in many industries, including food manufacturing and packaging. Yet the public's concerns have been raised that nanostructured materials could potentially lead to unforeseen health or environmental hazards.
In the food area fears arise over the unknown consequences of digesting nano-scale particles designed to behave in specific way in the body.
In the article scientists Jochen Weiss, Paul Takhistov, and Julian McClements give an overview of the current state of nanotechnology research in the food industry, providing processors with a heads up of the probable changes that may come their way in the sector.
"Strategies to apply nanoscience to the food industry are quite different from these more traditional applications of nanotechnology," the scientists noted. " Food processing is a multitechnological manufacturing industry involving a wide variety of raw materials, high biosafety requirements, and well-regulated technological processes."
The potential benefits of nanotechnology have been recognized by many industries, and commercial products are already being manufactured, such as in the microelectronics, aerospace, and pharmaceutical industries. Developments in these industries are driven by fundamental and applied research in physics, chemistry, biology, engineering, and materials science.
In contrast, applications of nanotechnology within the food industry are rather limited, the scientists say.
Production of nanoscale structures for use in food science and technology therefore frequently relies on an in-depth understanding of thermodynamically driven self-assembly processes, write the scientists.
They suggest areas of current research that could prove useful for the food sector in the near future include the molecular design of protective surface systems, surface engineering, and various methods of manufacturing, such as electrospinning and nanofiltration.
Other areas where nanotechnology has the potential to impact food and agricultural systems include security, disease-treatment delivery methods, tools for molecular and cellular biology, materials for pathogen detection, and the protection of the environment.
Such examples include the use of nanotechnology for achieving further advancements in the security of manufacturing, processing, and shipping of food products through sensors for pathogen and contaminant detection.
Devices to maintain historical environmental records of a particular product and tracking of individual shipments could also be developed, they suggest.
Other nanotechnology developments are systems to provide the integration of sensing, localization, reporting, and remote control of products, and transportation, and the encapsulation and delivery mechanisms for functional ingredients to their specific site of action.
The influence of the material properties of foods at the nanoscale level on their bioavailability and nutritional value has been highlighted by at least two studies. In addition, other scientists have investigated the relationship between the morphology of food materials and their bulk physicochemical properties.
Such studies include ones on biopolymers in solutions, gels, and films. One study found functional nanostructures can incorporate individual biological molecules, which is useful in the development of biosensors that can use natural sugars or proteins as target-recognition groups.
"In summary, there are a large number of potential applications of nanotechnology within the food industry; however, many of these may be difficult to adopt commercially because they are either too expensive or too impractical to implement on an industrial scale," the scientists concluded.
However a limited number of nanotechnology applications may have commercial potential in the near future. Most likely, the limited application of nanotechnology to the food industry will change as nanofabrication technologies become more cost-effective, they suggest.
Such areas include the development of functional ingredients such as drugs, vitamins, antimicrobials, antioxidants, flavorings, colourants, and preservatives.
Association colloids could be another fertile area for commercialisation. Association colloids include surfactant micelles, vesicles, bilayers, reverse micelles, and liquid crystals — used for many years to encapsulate and deliver polar, nonpolar, or amphiphilic functional ingredients.
Nano-emulsions such as the use of high-pressure valve homogenizers or microfluidizers could be used to incorporate functional food components within the droplets, the interfacial region, or the continuous phase.
"While it is difficult to engineer the interfaces to be completely impermeable to compounds in the bulk phase that may interact with the encapsulated compounds, the rate of permeation can often be significantly reduced, thus increasing the kinetic stability of the bioactives," the scientists stated.
Nanostructured multiple emulsions can be another area of work, used to create delivery systems with novel encapsulation and delivery properties. The most common examples of this are oil-in-water-in-oil and water-in-oil-in-water emulsions.
For example, a nanostructured emulsion would consist of nanometer-sized water droplets or reverse micelles contained within larger oil droplets that are dispersed within an aqueous continuous phase.
Functional food components could be encapsulated within the inner water phase, the oil phase, or the outer water phase, thereby making it possible to develop a single delivery system that contains multiple functional components.
The technology could be used to separate aqueous phase components that might adversely react with each other if they were present in the same aqueous phase. It could also be used to protect and release an aqueous phase component trapped within the inner water droplets to a specific site such as the mouth, stomach, or small intestine, they suggest.
Another area for commercialisation is the use of nanostructured multilayer emulsions. Recent studies show that the use of multilayer emulsions can create novel delivery systems, they stated.
Such systems typically consist of oil droplets at the core surrounded by a shell of nanometer thick layers. The shell is comprised of different polyelectrolytes.
Under certain circumstances, emulsions containing oil droplets surrounded by multilayer interfaces have been found to have better stability against environmental stresses than conventional oil-in-water emulsions with single-layer interfaces, they stated.
The Journal of Food Science is a publication of the Institute of Food Technologists.
MFIC has had a nice run but being near the year high may be able to break out and really move up on continued good news possibly from the UMass researchers. OTOH SOTK is near its year low and probably will rebound after tax selling is abated.
Considering the small float and low volume trading, I am sticking with my assessment to add to both between now and year end.
From SOTK's October 12, 2006 PR:
>>>According to Dr. Christopher L. Coccio, Sono-Tek's CEO and President, "We are continuing to invest time and money in the creation of new products to meet the needs of both the developed and developing world, and the evolution of the electronics and medical industries where we have a significant presence. We are also working to create new business opportunities for our WideTrack coating systems, extending from glass to textile applications to medical coverings in the past year. In addition, we have recently begun an initiative to develop WideTrack coating opportunities in the food industry, particularly as that industry turns to coating technology that includes nanotechnology to prevent spoilage, improve flavorings, and to reduce costs."
Sono-Tek has also recently announced the opening of our Chinese office, and the creation of a Chinese language website. We continue to see opportunities for growth in both China and other parts of Asia, and our new office will help us serve these markets more effectively.<<<
All this and if you annualize Q2 EPS you get a P/E of only 15 with an $18 Million market cap.
I agree with Will but your point about relative stock prices is a good one. SOTK is trading near its 52 week low while MFIC is trading near its 52 week high. However, both are trading at ridiculously low valuations of $18 Million each and both seem to have significant upside potential. What is driving MFIC now is their record baclog of almost $5 Million, third straight quarter of profitability, strong sales growth and potential for a nanotech royalty agreement with a food ingredient company. OTOH, SOTK is coming off its highest quarter of EPS with 2 cents, has 21 consecutive quarters of profitability, is expanding its product coating offerings including medical devices, textiles, glass and nanotech products, is diversifying into new large markets in China, India and Eastern Europe and managment is taking a higher profile of performing periodic investor conferences which they had never odne before. I do not believe SOTK is a case of "hidden skeletons" but instead is off the Wall Street radar screen and provides "hidden value".
Thanks, I like both but MFIC has already had a nice run and looking at SOTK's 1 year chart this is bargain price territory - assuming there's no skeletons in the closet and certainly the company looks to be doing well.
MFIC does have the smaller float at 10M vs 14M for SOTK, but both are attractively low.
I'm leaning towards SOTK so I'm interested to hear opinions on whether it is likely to show a nice % gain within the next 3 months - or sooner... Aiming4.
Diversification is what to do when you don't know what to do. So why not pick them both up? Perhaps SOTK may make a better 'tax selling is over' bounce than MFIC. Both are thinly traded.
Schmoopy - which do you like better right now at their current prices, MFIC at $1.80 or SOTK at $1.30 ?
This looks like a great historical price right now for SOTK, but the lack of volume is a concern... do you see it picking up anytime soon?
Thanks for any thoughts.
Nanotech Spices Up Food Industry
Business & Legal Reports - 11/22/2006
Currently, there are about 150 applications of nanotechnology in the food industry, according to Cientifica, a provider of business and technology nano-services. This fact and many others relating to nanotechnology and food were reported in a new survey sponsored by the Pew Charitable Trusts and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
Nanotechnology is the ability to measure, see, manipulate, and manufacture things usually between 1 and 100 nanometers in diameter. A nanometer is one-billionth of a meter.
With the use of nanomaterials food will be wrapped in smart safety packaging that can detect spoilage or harmful contaminants. Nanotechnology can also be used to adjust the taste and nutrient value of food, block harmful cholesterol from entering the bloodstream, reduce pesticide use, and improve plant and animal breeding.
According to one of its authors, the goal of Nanotechnology in Agriculture and Food Production is to develop an early understanding of "what is on the nano-agrifood horizon."
The benefits of nanotechnology in the food industry will likely be accelerated if critical information is provided as soon as possible. Questions of importance include:
Which nano-engineering food products will appear on the market over the next several years?
What are the potential benefits and risks?
Who will be affected?
How can consumers become engaged early on?
The authors hope the report will provide a starting point for future discussions, particularly those involving the U.S. Department of Agriculture, EPA, and the Food and Drug Administration.
The report is available at http://www.nanotechproject.org/50.
Using Ultrasonic Spray Nozzles To Coat Drug-Eluting Stents
Polymer coatings containing drugs released over time are used to inhibit restenosis in bare-metal stents; however applying coatings to stents, which have intricate geometries, is challenging. Ultrasonic atomising spray nozzles can be effective in achieving continuous and uniform coatings. This article describes unique nozzle designs, the methodology and the results obtained.
H.L. Berger
Sono-Tek Corporation, Milton, New York, USA
An essential procedure
The implantation of stents into arteries using balloon angioplasty has become an accepted technique in the treatment of arterial disease, where constricted or partially blocked blood vessels are involved. Stents are typically laser-cut from metals such as stainless steel or nitinol. The size of a coronary stent is in the order of 1.5–3 mm in diameter and 15–30 mm in length. Brain stents are much smaller and leg stents are much larger. Once implanted at the site of an arterial lesion, a stent’s role is to keep the blood vessel open and permit the normal flow of blood through the artery.
The flexibility of a stent is essential to its performance.The most common method employed for implantation is a balloon catheter. When the target site is reached, the balloon is inflated by pressurising it through the hollow catheter tube, which, in turn causes the stent to expand so that it pushes open the artery wall at the site. The balloon is then deflated and the tube is removed. Obviously, this implantation technique requires the stent to be flexible. The operating environment is equally important. Arteries are flexible and are constantly subjected to the forces generated by the pulsating pumping action of the heart. Thus, the stent must have the capability to react dynamically in a manner similar to its host environment.
Drug-eluting stents
Stenting has gained considerable favour in the treatment of arterial disease because it is relatively noninvasive. However, restenosis, that is the build up of scar tissue round the stent, which causes re-blockage, has been proven to occur approximately 25% of the time with bare-metal stents. This problem has been addressed through the use of stents coated with drugs that inhibit cell formation. Usually these drugs are embedded in a polymer, either a biodegradable type such as polylactide co-glycocide or a nonbiodegradable polyurethane-based elastomer. The major characteristics that these coatings must exhibit are
pliability, because of the flexibility of the stent
adhesion to the stent’s surface
the ability to provide a smooth and continuous surface finish.
The polymer/drug matrix allows the drug to be released (eluted) slowly, over a period of several months, thereby inhibiting the formation of cell masses, and hence significantly reducing the probability of restenosis. Clinical trials using drug-eluting stents have shown that the occurrence of restenosis could be reduced dramatically compared with a rate in the order of 25% for uncoated stents.
Spray coating stents
Figure 1a. A perfectly coated stent.
Spray nozzles are the primary method used to apply coatings to stents. Other techniques such as vacuum and super-critical CO2 deposition are methods under development, but are not in commercial use. Dip coating is not a viable alternative because of tight stent geometry. The spacing between struts, particularly where they join each other, can be as small as 50 µm. Dip coating would result in the bridging of these areas, something that is not allowed, because the bridged coating could eventually break off and enter the blood stream. Even spray-coated stents can exhibit bridging if not processed properly.
Figure 1b. Coating showing significant webbing.
Coating a stent properly is a technological challenge. Figures 1a to 1c illustrate what can occur. Figure 1a depicts a perfectly coated stent. It features a smooth, continuous coating, without any webbing or surface defects. In Figure 1b, the coating shows significant webbing. In Figure 1c, the coating exhibits an irregular, bumpy surface caused by the drops drying before they reach the target. It is important that the coating is uniform (both inside and outside), free from holes or other defects, and reproducible with a few percent weight gain from one stent to the next.
Figure 1c. Coating shows irregular, bumpy surface.
Spray methods
The industry has adopted two types of spray nozzles, ultrasonic and twin-fluid nozzles. The focus in this article is on ultrasonic nozzle technology, which is currently perceived to be the best method for achieving the desired results.
Figure 2. One configuration of a stent-coating system.
The operating requirements in this application call for flow rates in the order of 20–100 mL/min, spray diameters in the range of 0.5–2 mm, and small median drop diameters. Ultrasonic nozzles are capable of meeting these requirements. Figure 2 shows one coating strategy. The stent is placed on a mandrel that is attached to a rotating shaft. The nozzle is mounted above the stent. The shaft not only rotates, but also translates so that the stent is sprayed along its entire length. Typically, several traverses are required to achieve the proper coating weight.
The sprayed liquid consists of the polymer/drug system dissolved in a suitable organic solvent and diluted to approximately 0.5-2% by weight. Typically, high vapour pressure solvents are used, so that drying occurs quickly. Repeated traverses, coupled with low flow rates, produce the best coatings and maximise efficiency of material transfer. By varying rotational speed, distance between the spray and the stent and the number of traverses (and therefore flow rate), a process can be optimised. Often, stent coating is done in a nitrogen environment. Nitrogen promotes better liquid flow characteristics because it acts to lower the surface tension of the liquid as it contacts the stent surface.
Ultrasonic atomisation
Figure 3. Capillary waves.
Apart from the operational parameters described above, the key to successful coatings is specifying an appropriate type of ultrasonic nozzle. First, it is useful to briefly describe ultrasonic atomisation. When a liquid film is placed on a smooth surface and set into vibrating motion so that the direction of vibration is perpendicular to the surface, the liquid absorbs some of the vibrational energy, which is transformed into standing waves. These waves, known as capillary waves, form a rectangular grid pattern on the surface of the liquid with regularly alternating crests and troughs extending in both directions as shown in Figure 3.
When the amplitude of the underlying vibration is increased, the amplitude of the waves increases correspondingly, that is, the crests become taller and the troughs deeper. A critical amplitude is ultimately reached, at which point the height of the capillary waves exceeds that required to maintain their stability. The result is that the waves collapse and drops of liquid are ejected from the tops of the degenerating waves perpendicular to the atomising surface. The median drop diameter (DN,0.5) expected is inversely proportional to the vibration frequency (f) to the two-thirds power. This relationship was discovered in the late 19th century by Lord Rayleigh.1 Specifically,
DN,0.5 ~ (8πσ/ρf2)1/3 (1)
where σ is surface tension of the liquid and ρ is its density. Experimental studies by Lang and others2,3 further quantified this relationship. Lang established that the proportionality constant is 0.34, so that
DN,0.5 = 0.34(8πσ/ρf2)1/3 (2)
Figure 4. Cross-section of a typical ultrasonic nozzle.
A typical ultrasonic nozzle is shown in cross-section in Figure 4. Disc-shaped ceramic piezoelectric transducers convert high frequency electrical energy from an oscillator/amplifier into vibratory mechanical energy at the same frequency. The transducers are sandwiched between two titanium cylinders, which act to concentrate and amplify the vibration amplitude at the atomising surface. Titanium is used because of its good acoustical characteristics, corrosion-resistance and high strength.
One of the principal attributes of ultrasonic nozzles results from the atomisation being solely a surface phenomenon. The amount of liquid atomised depends exclusively on the rate at which liquid is introduced onto the surface.
Therefore, in principle, ultrasonic nozzles have infinite variability with respect to flow rate. Although practical considerations related to nozzle design limit this variability to a fixed amount, the ability to precisely adjust flow rates by adjusting the rate at which liquid is delivered to the nozzle is extremely useful.
The other major attribute of ultrasonic nozzles, which distinguishes these devices from all other atomising devices, is the low velocity character of the spray, typically 0.25–0.4 m/s compared with 10–20 m/s for standard pressure atomising nozzles. This 100-fold reduction in spray velocity is equivalent to a 10 000 times reduction in kinetic energy.
The liquid is delivered to the atomising surface through a feed tube that runs the length of the nozzle. The relatively large liquid feed orifice ensures freedom from clogging. Alternatively, liquid can be delivered to the atomising surface externally.
Ultrasonic nozzles for stent coating
There are two principal ultrasonic nozzle designs that are in use in coating stents. Both rely on the use of a low-pressure gas stream to shape the slow-moving drops into a narrow spray beam. The operating frequency of both designs is 120 kHz, which for water yields a value for DN,0.5 in the order of 18 μm.
Figure 5. Nozzle A — internal liquid feed.
The first design (nozzle A) is represented in Figure 5. Compressed gas, typically at 1 psi, is introduced into the diffusion chamber of the gas shroud, which produces a uniformly distributed flow of air around the nozzle stem. The ultrasonically produced spray at the tip of the stem is immediately entrained in the gas stream. An adjustable focussing mechanism on the gas shroud allows complete control of spray width.
The spray envelope is conical. Moving the focus-adjust mechanism in and out controls the width of the bow. The distance between nozzle and substrate can be varied from near contact to approximately two inches (50 mm). The narrowest beam diameter achievable at the focal plane is approximately 1.75 mm.
Figure 6. Nozzle B — external liquid feed.
The second design (nozzle B) is depicted in Figure 6. It consists of feeding liquid to the atomising surface through an externally mounted cannula. The gas is fed through the nozzle orifice. The gas stream draws the spray to it, creating a narrow spray beam of 0.5 mm. The distinguishing feature of this technique is that the liquid feed is external. This means that the liquid is completely isolated from nozzle vibrations until the time that atomisation occurs. This allows a high degree of spray stability and a greater degree of reproducibility from one spray cycle to the next.
Spray characteristics
In addition to displaying different diameter spray beams, the two nozzle designs described above produce different results in terms of drop size distribution and the properties of the liquid being sprayed. A series of experiments were conducted using a Malvern Spraytec particle size analyser (Malvern Instruments Ltd, www.malvern.co.uk) to obtain distributions. Figure 7 summarises the results. Four time-averaged distributions are shown, two for nozzle A (one for water and the other for isopropyl alcohol), and the corresponding two for nozzle B. Both the number distribution and the volume distribution are plotted for each case. The flow rate was 100 μL/min.
Figure 7. Drop-size and distribution analysis.
The first observation is that the median drop sizes agree with theoretical predictions of Equation 2: DN,0.5 = 18 µm. The values of σ and ρ for alcohol are different from those for water (σwat = 73 dynes/cm and σalc = 22 dynes/cm; ρwat = 1 and ρalc = 0.8). The resulting median drop size for alcohol is approximately 72% that for water, or approximately 13 μm. The distributions for water appear to closely follow a lognormal distribution shape, whereas for alcohol, the distribution is noticeably skewed toward larger diameters, particularly for nozzle B. Moreover, in each case, the spread of the distributions for alcohol is considerably greater than that for water. In addition, the number and volume distributions for each nozzle spraying water are similar; they nearly overlap. The same is not true when spraying alcohol.
These observations suggest that there is significant coalescence occurring, particularly for alcohol. This can be explained by the lower surface tension of alcohol compared with that of water. The lower surface energy promotes coalescence.
Because the diameter of the spray beam of nozzle B is smaller than that of nozzle A (0.5 mm versus 1.75 mm), the spatial density of spray from nozzle B is considerably greater than from nozzle A. This difference explains why, for the same liquid, nozzle B exhibits more coalescence than nozzle A.
Effects of drop size
Drop sizes have an impact on stent coatings in that size influences the solvent evaporation rate, and hence the drying time. It is not possible to predict how a particular polymer/drug/solvent system will behave during the coating process because the interaction of the three-part solution with the stent surface is relatively complex. In general terms, an abundance of large drops is acceptable if the drying rate is rapid, which occurs for solvents with high vapour pressures such a tetrahydrofuran or chloroform. This is not the case for low vapour pressure solvents such as dimethylacetamide.
The width of the distribution should be examined to determine whether it plays a role in coating behaviour. The sharpness of the distribution(ΔV) is defined as the difference between the diameter (d) for which 90% of the volume of drops in a sample have diameters smaller than that diameter (d90%), less the diameter for which 10% of the volume of drops meet that condition (d10%).
Table I. Values associated with Figure 7.
Table I shows that the values of ΔV for both nozzles are similar for a given liquid, thus this characteristic may not be significant.
Selecting the right design
Coating arterial stents is a challenging application. Ultrasonic spray nozzles are ideally suited to the application because they are capable of producing low flow rates, precisely shaped spray patterns, low-velocity delivery, and relatively small drops. The techniques used in coating may vary, as may the drug/polymer system. These variances make it important to optimise the entire system for each specific circumstance. The two nozzles described in this article display different spray properties, but both play a role in stent coating. The selection of which one to use depends on the exact nature of the process and the materials being sprayed.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
References
1. J.W. Strutt (Lord Rayleigh), The Theory of Sound, 349, pp. 82, Dover Publications Inc. (1945).
2. W.R. Wood and A.L. Loomis,Phil. Mag., 7,417 (1927).
3. R.J. Lang, Ultrasonic Atomisation of Liquid, Jour. Acoustical Soc. of America, 34:1 (1962)
Dr Harvey L. Berger is Chief Technology Officer at Sono-Tek Corporation, 2012 Route 9W, Milton, New York 1254, USA, tel. +1 845 795 2020,
e-mail: labarca@sono-tek.com
Copyright ©2006 Medical Device Technology
Another potential application for SOTK's ultrasonic spray coatings technology:
Antibacterial Wallpaper Through Nanotechnology
NewswireToday - /newswire/ - Honolulu, HI, United States, 11/16/2006 - Researchers from the National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan found a way of coating paper with ZnO nanoparticles using ultrasoundwork presents a simple, green, and cost-effective way of coating ZnO nanoparticles on a paper surface.
Zinc oxide (ZnO) is considered a workhorse of technological development exhibiting excellent electrical, optical, and chemical properties with a broad range of applications as semiconductors, in optical devices, piezoelectric devices, surface acoustic wave devices, sensors, transparent electrodes, solar cells, antibacterial activity etc. Thin films or nanoscale coating of ZnO nanoparticles on suitable substrates are viewed with great interest for their potential applications as substrates for functional coating, printing, UV inks, e-print, optical communication (security-papers), protection, barriers, portable energy, sensors, photocatalytic wallpaper with antibacterial activity etc. Various methods like chemical, thermal, spin coating, spray pyrolysis, pulsed laser deposition have been used for thin film formation but they are limited to solid supports such as metal, metal oxides, glass or other thermally stable substrates. Coating of ZnO nanoparticles on thermolabile surfaces is scarce and coating on paper was yet to be reported. Paper as a substrate is an economic alternative for technological applications having desired portability and flexibility. Researchers from the National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan found a way of coating paper with ZnO nanoparticles using ultrasound.
Professor Yong-Chien Ling, who led the research team, explained the recent findings to Nanowerk: "Our work presents for the first time a simple, green, and cost-effective way of coating ZnO nanoparticles on a paper surface (thermolabile substrate) without the use of binders."
Existing coating techniques for paper, especially the contact mechanical ones, can cause surface defects, variable layer thickness and composition, consume more material by filling fiber interstices and need excess solvent and energy. Therefore non-impact, spray-based techniques are generally preferred but they are costly, require more maintenance and consume even more solvent medium.
Coating on the nanoscale would enable improved techniques that consume less material. Furthermore, with increased emphasis on green chemistry, interest has been developed towards adoption and implementation of sustainable processes by minimizing the use of toxic chemicals, solvents, and energy.
"This led us to conclude that development of a nonimpact coating technique on the verge of green chemistry and nanoscience is crucial for revitalizing coating progress through nanostructuring" says Ling.
Read the full article on the Nanowerk website.
About Nanowerk
Nanowerk is a leading nanotechnology information portal. Apart from its unique Nanomaterial Database™, with over 1,300 products from 90 suppliers, it provides the most complete nanotech events calendar; hundreds of links to universities, labs, researchers, associations, networks and international initiatives involved in nanotechnology; daily news; downloadable reports; and much more. The site includes a daily “Spotlight” section featuring Nanowerk-exclusive reviews and summaries of cutting-edge nanotechnology research by guest authors and Nanowerk editors. Nanowerk also publishes the nanoRISK newsletter – a constructive contribution to the debate about the potential risks of nanotechnology.
By Michael Berger, Copyright 2006 Nanowerk LLC
Agency / Source: Nanowerk, LLC
Availability: All Regions (Including Int'l)
Distribution: [+] Press Release & Newswire Distribution Network. via PRZOOM - Newswire Today (NewswireToday.com)
The main obstacle at the moment seems to be investor visibility. SOTK is an OTCBB stock with no sponsorship. There are no brokerage houses following them and they have no research reports. There is almost no institutional investors in the stock. Management has yet to conduct quarterly conference calls regarding their earnings but has just starting appearing at investor conferences and being interviewed by financial websites. This is a start in getting additional visibility. Their web site is chock full of information and if you are interested take a look at www.sono-tek.com
That said, as an investor I would rather be early than late. SOTK has 14+ Million shares oustanding giving them a paltry $20 Million market cap. They have terffic fundamentals with 21 straight quarters of profitability, they have record sales in their latst quarter, earned .02 cents per share which I believe is also a quarterly record, they have expanded into new geographical markets including Eastern Europe, China, India, etc., and are using their ultrasonic spray IP to break into new markets for coating products in medical devices, glass, textiles, foods and nanotechnology. Many nanotech companies trade at market caps well in excess of $100 Million with far weaker fundamentals.
I have been accumulating additional shares at this price level as I have seen tremendous new investor interest in the nanotech sector witness recent runs in NVEC, LMRA and TINY. NNZ (Merrill Lynch Nanotech Index) is a good way track a basket of nanotech stocks.
snoopy, what is the latest w/SOTK?? I see almost at bottom. Is O/S changed or still 13MM?? Why is not much interest in this stock, is that the industry?? Thx.
cw
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