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Thanks to Ceniises & Ottoman for the good links and DD.
And even cato sees the self testing is gaining ground overseas
and sson to be in the USA.
Tic Toc
Hope everyone still has bloodpuppy on ignore.
Maybe a seeing eye dog would help him.
i know i will be selling high that is real high after Dec 1st World's Aids Day... Just some of my shares, oh say enough to buy the wife a new truck, haha, i know she'd give it back to me since she likes the Cadillac i bought her.
China Daily Examines HIV Testing Strategies Among High-Risk Groups
Main Category: HIV / AIDS News
Article Date: 13 Aug 2007 - 4:00 PDT
China Daily on Wednesday examined how health authorities in some Chinese provinces are making HIV tests mandatory for various high-risk groups as HIV continues to spread to the general public. Policymakers in the Hunan province in central China recently made HIV tests mandatory for massage parlor workers, and policymakers in China's Henan province gave the same order in 2006, China Daily reports.
China's Regulation on AIDS Prevention and Treatment states that mandatory HIV tests should be used only for pregnant women and blood and sperm donors, but many health authorities support mandatory testing rather than voluntary counseling and testing. According to China Daily, the Chinese government typically does not discipline provincial governments that violate the voluntary counseling and testing rule and require HIV tests for certain groups.
Wang Laoshi, a volunteer with a Beijing-based AIDS care organization, said mandatory HIV testing is an "efficient way of curbing the spread of HIV/AIDS," adding that high-risk groups, such as commercial sex workers, "should be responsible for themselves and their clients." Jing Jun, a sociology professor at Tsinghua University, said that voluntary testing is "better" than mandatory testing. "Without introducing counseling and help services earlier, the government missed the chance to spread prevention knowledge and raise AIDS awareness," Jing said.
According to official statistics, there are about 3,000 voluntary testing sites throughout China, but only about 30% of the population is aware of the sites, Xia Guomei, a professor at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, said. The Chinese government estimates that there are 650,000 HIV-positive people nationwide, but only 60,000 have received HIV tests (Shan, China Daily, 8/8).
Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. © 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.
I agree with you JP
but i ignore him
i just can't see things from his perspective;
just can't get my head that far up my (bleep).
One would have to be really twisted to even make sense of his opinions.
i would like to see Sower remain even if he drops the moderator position. Sower you are too soft for that moderator activity.
i'd take the position if it came with a way to deliver extreme electrical shock thru the keyboard. ;->
TicToc
older people seeking & getting anonymous HIV testing:
The report will help Calypte...
report at;
http://asia.news.yahoo.com/070727/5/singapore290541.html
((OraQuick is an FDA-approved rapid HIV test that uses an oral swab to screen for HIV-1 and 2, and can deliver result within 20 minutes. Rockeby has exclusive marketing and distribution rights for this test in Singapore.))
Remember when Bloodpuppy howled because many of us said that
anonymous HIV testing was on the way??
Well it is happening in many places and this will speed up the OTC sales... etc
Have a good weekend ya'll.
hehe haha hehe haha
rotflmao
Islamic Approach to HIV 'Spotlight At Int'l Conference
http://allafrica.com/stories/200707200800.html
Tic Toc Tic Toc
older people seeking & getting anonymous HIV testing:
The report will help Calypte...
report at;
http://asia.news.yahoo.com/070727/5/singapore290541.html
((OraQuick is an FDA-approved rapid HIV test that uses an oral swab to screen for HIV-1 and 2, and can deliver result within 20 minutes. Rockeby has exclusive marketing and distribution rights for this test in Singapore.))
Remember when Bloodpuppy howled because many of us said that
anonymous HIV testing was on the way??
Well it is happening in many places and this will speed up the OTC sales... etc
Have a good weekend ya'll.
==========================================
Bloodpuppy, the Sport is on my ignore list, so talk to yourself Sport.
Sport:
mockery; ridicule; derision: They made sport of him.
an object of derision; laughingstock.
someone subject to the whims or vicissitudes of fate, circumstances, etc.
Biology. an organism or part that shows an unusual or singular deviation from the normal or parent type; mutation.
Actually Bloodpuppy you are little dog made of all Sport;
Believe i'll just call you Dick.
OttomanRosendahl, Excellent posts you've been making!
just wanted to make sure you get a Big Thank You.
Now go have great week end.
ngp
Ceniises,Thanks!for showing Blood's Lies.
Bloodpuppy is a LIAR
Ya rreally put the light on that suckr.
Have a great weekend.
ngp
giocotennis, Thank you!
There are many Long posters that deserve a Big Thank You for their informative posts being posted; you know who you are, so go a head and pat yourself on the back. Just got back from a long ride and i really appreciate the posts.
Where we going to celebrate?
Bloodpuppy good that you are sucking your thumb.
Tic Toc Tic Toc
Scheilko, Thank you! Your DD is good.
i enjoy your articles and work towards the relieving the HIV pandemic..
A week or so ago i posted a research paper mentioning the BED test.
Tic Toc
"best case scenario"BloodHoundDiesOfHeartAttack
on China's Approval.
"The negative is so easy to find here." Yep and there it is in black and white in the title line.
"Its the positive things that are very elusive and never seem to come to pass." Wow and there it is again in the title line; "best case scenario" BloodHound Dies Of Heart Attack on China's Approval.
But never rests in peace.
LOL !
Blood So you can fly off the Golden Gate Bridge, prove it!
I'm sure you'll make the news and my weekend more enjoyable.
Enjoy the weekend !!!
Scheilko, Excellent! SeeThatDate;
March 2007, Vol. 97, No. 3 SAMJ
Houston says ...
TicToc! 10 ...
BloodyReadsYouDa1ThatBreaksPromises!!
Remember ?
You promised to leave these boards
when Magic showed up, he did.
when we went to Amex, we did.
when Tony left, he did.
when sales started, they have.
when BED tests sold, they have.
when financing improved, they have.
when we left the USA, we have.
when over the counter tests happened, they have.
etc etc
You have no room to talk how "broken" promises.
Especially when everyone knows we are talking about projections and the future...
Everything is lining up.
Just because you do not have the balls to put your money on the line, oh yea that's rioght you have no money 'cause all you know how to do is "average down" DUH!
Try buying low and presetting a sell high at say 100% return like i've done many times and you'd have profits to play the investment game.
It is obvious you are a loser that tries to project your short comings on others. Misery loves other miserable people so you try to make everyone miserable... Surprise it does not work on me... i laugh at you all the way to the bank.
Cheers!
Tic Toc
Continued Roger Gale -> Chairman and CEO
To repeat an important point - we will break the barriers as countries begin to realize that the only feasible way to increase testing substantially is to find a non-invasive solution.
Sixth, our strategy to get to market is continuing to unfold. This is the multi-pronged and multi- channeled approach we have discussed in earlier calls. We are using all channels available to enter markets...government-sponsored tenders, the private sector (such as my visit in Russia this week) and private charity funders and their on-the-ground organizations, the bi-lateral and multi-lateral state charities and entities, the International Financial Institutions and the national and international NGOs. Each market differs.
With our financing in place, we believe we have the staying power that will encourage many of these organizations to eventually partner with us.
The challenges of managing and coordinating the Company have significantly increased during the first months of 2007 and will increase still further with the opening up of our Middle East, Indian and Chinese markets. Our experience to date with time zones, maintaining an effective span of control, adapting to cultures and business nuances points to the need to make a fairly fundamental change in the way we manage our operations. We must move away from trying to run everything from our US base in Oregon and instead create an on-the-ground presence in the key regional markets and provide regional management with an appropriate level of operational autonomy. This will bring much needed local knowledge, contacts, relationships, access, infrastructure and improved market penetration and, we hope, improved response time to market and delivery of product. The thinking at this stage is to manage the Americas and Pacific from Portland, Europe from Geneva, the Middle East and Africa from Dubai, South Asia from India and East and South East Asia from Beijing. Headquarters would remain in Portland for the foreseeable future.
To end, it is also clear that we need to sharpen the way we do business in our current and future markets. An increased presence in key geographic markets will help, but it is imperative that we make some fundamental changes in the way we go about things. The experience of the past 12 months and a review of the performance of our peers have shown that we need to steadily improve our profit margins on each of our products to closer to 60%. We believe this is achievable. To do this, we must sharpen our pricing policy to distributors and look again at controlling the layers in our distribution channels. This includes revising our approach to working with distributors and exercising more control over the distribution channels through tighter distribution agreements. We must also diversify our approach and routes to each market. And, as sales increase, we will take advantage of volume pricing to minimize our production costs.
I leave you with one final thought, one should look at the first quarter as something of an interregnum. Business and sales at this stage are not building smoothly; rather sales come as discrete and lumpy following months of preparation, whilst only costs continue to stay smooth. Because of the long lead time in build up to a sale, it is safe to say that the low sales of Q1 are a direct product of very tight management of the limited available resources in that and the preceding quarter. Performance of Q2 will be better, but we are still early in our cycle. Sales will continue to be discrete and lumpy while costs will continue to be smooth.
What are these stages of development? And what is the final destination or goal of this journey? As I said in the introduction, it is a little early to get too definitive. Sustained profitability? Sure, but not just profitability from a single product from sales in a few countries, but from a diversified product base across a global market, to sustain sales and mitigate risk. More particularly, HIV and STDs; a broader suite of rapid tests based on detection of anti-bodies on several platforms, followed by other rapid tests based on new technologies. It is management's intention to build a strong, diversified rapid testing company by at least 2010.
Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen - and thank you to my colleagues and thank you all for listening in. Operator, we are now ready for a few questions...
Roger Gale->Calypte Chairman and CEO
Thank you, Rick.
The completion of the funding round on 28 March 2007 provided us with a much stronger operating position. From this new position of strength, we have re-evaluated our medium-term objectives and operational strategy and have determined that some adjustment is necessary in the way we deliver on our strategy. Specifically, we must accelerate the ramp-up of our operational capability in key regions of the world and do so by using the full support of relationships and commercial infrastructure made available by our new and existing investor partners.
With funding in place, we have targeted 4 key areas. They are:
1. Staffing
2. The U.S. facilities in which we operate
3. Getting closer to our regional markets, and
4. Diversifying
Since closing the transaction on 28 March 2007, we have started work on:
1. Building up staffing in the U.S. and the UAE/MENA Region. In the past three weeks in the U.S., we have hired a very experienced Quality Assurance Director and we plan to recruit two or three experienced scientists for the R&D group based in the U.S. We recognize that our R&D group is critical to the near-term advancement of the Company. We have also strengthened our Board with the addition of Mr. Adel Karas, who is based in the UAE. Adel's reach and experience touch many of the markets so important to our future. It is invaluable to have someone on the Board who understands our increasingly global markets and cultures and how best to approach these opportunities.
2. Improving U.S. Facilities. We have initiated a search for new premises in which we can combine our corporate offices with our R&D group and begin the development and pilot production of new products for the U.S. market...HIV to be sure, but we also expect to move forward with the CDC on a rapid syphilis test. To date, requests for proposals have been submitted for several suitable premises and we anticipate closure in the next few weeks. Stay tuned for an announcement, we hope, of a facility bringing together our team, a cost-efficient space where we can produce clinical trial lots under GMP conditions and start to monetize our multi-million dollar investment in IP and equipment. This is a major step forward in the strategic plans for the Company.
We intend to file an IDE for an oral fluid test in the U.S. in 2007. The U.S. is a priority now and we are getting started. And, while we may look to partner to realize the full market opportunity in the U.S., we plan to validate this market on our own - and as soon as possible.
3. We are getting far more involved in regional markets
Initially, this will be in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). In the UAE we are creating a regional entity and office and a regional manufacturing capability.
a) We will shortly have a 100% owned entity in Abu Dhabi or Dubai. The entity will be named something like Calypte MENA (i.e. Middle East and Africa or something similar).
b) We plan to enter into a contract manufacturing arrangement also in UAE. We have identified and met with a successful pharmaceutical manufacturer and expect to enter into a suitable contract agreement once our local entity is established. At this stage, the contract manufacturing will include assembly and packaging sufficient to give us the important "approved in the country of manufacture" tag to go along with our current UAE product approval. The components will be primarily sourced from our JV plant in China, although we will also maintain and continue to use our Thailand contract manufacturer.
c) We expect to appoint key staff/consultants shortly. We have identified two locally based senior individuals to staff the 100% entity. They will be responsible for sales and overseeing our manufacturing arrangements and general management in the region and will be our “feet on the ground”.
We are also planning to establish a presence in Europe shortly. Geneva, as Rick noted, is the crossroads and meeting place of the world's multi-lateral and bi-lateral health, finance and aid organizations, and the destination of those governments and organizations seeking assistance for their HIV/AIDS programs. We believe that we must broaden the routes to market by not only pursuing the customer through the public and the private sector and the aid organisations and NGOs, but we must also pursue the potential funding sources of those programs. It is now imperative that we quickly establish a presence in the heart of that community. We also plan to build a European market base from Geneva.
We have made good progress in India. Our clinical trials have been successfully completed and our application for approval to sell in the Indian market has been submitted. We will review our current marketing and distribution arrangements with our distributor. We are planning to use our Indian contacts in Dubai and, with the support of our PIPE investors, move aggressively into India. With over 5.7 million HIV-infected people in India, this is a major focus for the Indian government. They understand that they must aggressively treat the problem, and a quick, accurate and safe test to diagnose the problem is where this treatment and control of the situation actually begins.
a) Because of the skill levels in India, we will investigate greater involvement in country. We are considering putting in place a local country manger and establishing a regional R&D centre in association with an established private entity or a local or federal government entity. We have previously talked about next steps in product development. We have worldwide rights to build a line of STDs and have longer term plans to develop multi-channel versions of our tests, to meet local testing protocol needs. For example, HIV, TB, Malaria and Hepatitis are often tested in combination with each other. India is a logical focus for an R&D centre where we could work on some of these newer products and product suites.
4. As for diversification, we expect that our first initiatives will be in conjunction with research planned with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), such as syphilis. Our Science Advisor, Dr. Richard George, who many of you know well, is well respected in this field and is evaluating proper pathways for our development. This is not a short term event. However, in our opinion, it is an important element of our business that can add to our value proposition. Much of the basis of this work, especially as it pertains to antibody testing, involves IP in which we have already made the important investments.
Now, let's look at some of our recent operational highlights:
When we spoke with you last November, we outlined several objectives that remain valid.
First, we remain focused on 5 key countries or country blocks: Russia, China, Africa, India and the Middle East. These are our current spotlights.
Of note:
• Russia orders are starting to come from our distributor. I mentioned earlier the start of our private sector campaign there and I have just returned form Russia. Expect over $100,000 in sales from Russia this quarter. Russia is potentially our #1 region for 2007.
• South Africa wins in the private sector also continue. We are effective in the mines, where the combination of strengths of our product is getting recognized and we are unseating the only other oral fluid test on the market.
Why? First we offer the only other non-invasive solution, and based on customer requests, will be introducing the only fully non-invasive testing system - i.e. both screening and confirmatory, in line with WHO guidelines. We are durable, and with a shelf life at 18 months, well suited for Africa and other challenging environments. Products with 6 month shelf lives, which iis what our competitor has, do not work well and are susceptible to false positives.
• China SFDA technical review questions and final clinical studies have been completed without issue and we submitted our findings in early May, in line with the program. We believe the government is interested in the potential benefits of the oral fluid test. While further questions are possible, we await the final process - which we believe to be primarily administrative - as the product is submitted to senior levels for formal SFDA approval. Upon approval, we will be the only such test in China.
The factory is readied for production of our Aware™ HIV-1/2 OMT (oral fluid) rapid test and we expect to manufacture for export in the next 30-90 days. Regarding factory GMP approval, there are 2 possibilities for GMP approval to sell into China - both are under consideration by the joint venture management and shareholders.
• Referring also to my comments on a regional market focus; the Middle East is in process; India plans have begun. And, business in the region is promising. We have immediate interest, for instance, in Oman, and are following up. We have just started contacts elsewhere in the region, including Kuwait, Jordan, Lebanon, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. Egypt may hold considerable promise. In this entire region we have the only oral fluid test and have already introduced an OTC version. We believe prospects in this region are excellent.
Iraq, specifically the Kurdish region of Northern Iraq, is interested in our oral fluid test and we expect to ship a first order by mid-year. This order was received through our strategic partner's contacts within the government.
Second, the US - one of the uses of funds from the newly-completed PIPE is to advance our efforts to develop the US market.
Third, Calypte is leveraging our partnership with the CDC. We work with them as the manufacturer of the BED incidence test, which as we have said before, is an effective tool in the fight against AIDS in that it can determine “when” one got HIV. BED sales started out with a bang then stalled as everyone needed to figure out how best to use the product. That has happened and we found ourselves in a backorder situation. We have shipped $50k this quarter to date and have additional orders of almost another $100k.
Also, CDC is a focus resource in our diversification plans. We will continue to be attentive to the suggestions of CDC as we greatly respect this organization.
Fourth, IR - Rick is coordinating this effort for us - he provided the overview of current activities and plans in his remarks.
Fifth, what makes us special today is the oral fluid test. It should be obvious that we are continuing to capitalize on this Calypte advantage versus a blood test - where we have very definite and obvious advantages, and also versus other oral fluid tests in markets where our durability and flexibility are our strengths - the international market where the pandemic is at its worst, and ultimately in the OTC markets, where shelf life requirements are expected to be in excess of 12 months. Remember, our shelf life is currently 18 months. Our principal competitor's shelf life is only 6 months.
Rick Brounstein - Calypte Executive Vice President
Thanks, Jerry.
We are real and it is time to let the world know. With the $5 million+ in hand, the potential to receive an additional $13.5 million, and our debt restructured, we are confident that not only do people want to hear our story, but, with a proven and unique product, we become a significant contender and worthy potential partner.
1. These are some of the business development activities we are pursuing:
a. The concept of a total oral fluid testing and verification solution delivered under the auspices of humanitarian charitable organizations is right and we expect strong interest for it. We will complete the verification part of our solution soon.
i. We recently visited the Clinton Foundation and are looking forward to selecting a joint project together. Additional charities are the focus and we will continue to pursue this avenue aggressively.
ii. We have committed to participate in the Humanitarian Development Program's Summit in Kenya in October. This is an important event geared around formal one-on-one meetings with interested NGOs and possible strategic partners. We continue to look for ways to work more closely with these key International donor agencies and private sector corporations.
b. It is time to make Calypte visible on Capital Hill. We launched a program with Oregon Representative Barbara Hooley in December of last year in which we visit not only local representatives, but other senators and members of congress who influence our sector and who we expect to be genuinely interested in combating the scourge of AIDS both domestically and internationally. We are planning a follow-up visit to DC in June to meet key additional legislators.
i. DC is also home to ambassadors of many of our focus countries.
c. The regional or international offices of many key international humanitarian and funding organizations are in DC and Geneva. We plan to work with as many of them as possible, and are considering the potential benefits of having a physical presence in Geneva. Roger will say more about this. It is important to our future to work with UNAIDS, USAID, WHO, World Bank, and similar institutions to develop support within these organizations for the oral fluid test solution. While blood-based testing has been the historical diagnostic tool, non-invasive oral fluid is a much better answer and we believe we can clearly demonstrate that point. The objective is to build a groundswell of support - one by one within these organizations - so that our oral fluid testing product becomes the standard.
i. The WHO has announced its intentions to resume its diagnostic test evaluation program. Evaluations of blood tests will likely start later this year. We plan to work with several of the groups just mentioned to build interest in evaluating our oral fluid test - tests, if you consider the verification product that completes the WHO algorithm of two rapid tests using different antigens to confirm a positive HIV diagnosis.
ii. We believe that having our OMT test included in the USAID waiver list will expand our sales opportunities, and that process has started. While it was relatively easy to evaluate our blood test for inclusion on the list as there are testing panels readily available, one needs a formal clinical trial to evaluate the oral fluid test. That trial is underway in South Africa and its results are expected to facilitate our application for inclusion on the list later this year.
2. We are considering an expanded, targeted donation program similar to our activities in Kenya.
In Kenya we donated 10,000 tests for a study involving the MOH and TB patients. If you recall, we made this donation in honor of World AIDS Day last December. This donation was presented to the Embassy by our local Congresswoman, Representative Barbara Hooley, as a part of our Capital Hill initiatives. We believe this exposure to MOH is a way to build awareness of and comfort with using this product with influential groups in country. Remember, despite our excellent clinical trial results, and the intuitive advantages of a non-invasive test, blood testing has been the historical standard and it takes “a test drive” to get used to an alternative protocol. Donation programs such as this are expected to drive momentum. Let me elaborate.
We believe the investment in a more extensive donation program could become the right way to enter markets in which we already have approval or expect to receive it shortly:
- In the majority of African countries, the Ministry of Health purchases tests through a national tender (like in Kenya) or directly (as in Uganda and Tanzania). The MOH is usually the government agency that defines the testing protocol (for example, selecting the screening and confirmation tests as well as the “tie breaker” test, if required);
- In these situations, obtaining regulatory approval (based on product performance) does not automatically result in sales. Rather, being included in the testing protocol as the screening or confirmation test, in substitution of a blood rapid test, is the goal;
- Additionally, in essentially all of the African countries, the majority of the private hospitals and NGOs will use the same tests that are used by the MOH.
- In light of this model, by donating tests for a specific purpose, such as Kenya's TB trial for the MOH, we help raise awareness of the oral fluid test. This awareness may facilitate the government to consider using our oral fluid test as an alternative in the national testing protocol. This is the goal in Kenya (with the MOH donation). In Tanzania we are looking to cooperate with AMREF, the African Medical Research Foundation, an NGO providing voluntary testing and counselling services. It may be possible to cooperate with the NICD, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases, on a similar basis in South Africa.
In general, we believe that we do not have to compete directly with the traditional screening procedure (Blood), but rather that we need to obtain governmental “Authorization” to allow the customer to use our test as an alternative way of HIV testing - and in doing so, to create a new market segment.
3. When our business development initiatives take us to far flung parts of the U.S. and world, we use those opportunities to tell our story. We tie investor relations into our journey.
From an investor relations point of view, our objective is simple:
We want to make sure that as we progress on our journey, investors will notice. These quarterly conference calls are an important element of that communication as much of the news is not discrete. We issue press releases on material news.
We frequently visit New York, of course. Dallas, Boston, San Francisco and DC are also Q207 target cities. We will continue to do internet interviews and will cost effectively integrate PR into the equation. We have been invited to speak and will be making a formal presentation at CapStone Investment's inaugural Small-Cap Investor Conference on July 16th and 17th in Milwaukee, WI. .
We remain proactive.
And now let me now turn this over to Roger to provide you an operational update.
Roger...
Jerry Dotson CONTINUED-->
As we discussed in our most recent call, we have extended the maturity date of both our 8% Secured Convertible Notes and the 7% Promissory Notes issued under the 2005 Credit Facility with Marr until April 3, 2009. Accordingly, we have classified this debt as non-current in our balance sheet at March 31, 2007. The accounting for the modification of these debt instruments was complex and resulted in discounts that we will amortize as non-cash interest expense over the remaining two-year term of the respective notes.
The February and March 2007 PIPE financing agreements contain one-year anti-dilution provisions. The accounting rules applicable to these transactions required us to record a non-cash anti-dilution obligation of approximately $2.4 million as a current liability at March 31, 2007. We will adjust this obligation to its fair value until its expiration in the first quarter of 2008. This fair value adjustment, which will consider the market price of our common stock, the remaining term of the obligation and other factors, will result in as-yet-unquantifiable non-cash interest expense or income over the remaining term of the obligation. Although we often mention the impact of non-cash items on our income statement, it is worth noting that the inclusion of the non-cash anti-dilution obligation as a current liability in our balance sheet at March 31, 2007 is primarily responsible for the negative working capital we reported at that date. This financing, from a cash standpoint, brought us to essentially a break-even working capital balance.
The strengthening of the balance sheet is a primary reason that we consider the March 28th date of the PIPE financing as the commencement point on the “journey” to which Roger referred The proceeds from the $5.2 million PIPE have certainly enabled us to commence that journey in a more robust manner. But having said that, we intend to do more than merely exist at our current burn rate of about $400,000 per month. Given the plans that Rick and Roger will discuss shortly, our other known commitments, and the $250,000 in bridge financing that we repaid from the proceeds, we expect that we will need to supplement this financing to enable us to reach the end of our journey to profitability and sustain a positive cash flow. We recognize that building our business will require near-term operating cash and investments in excess of our recent burn rate. We continue to fine-tune our sales forecast and carefully evaluate the investments that may be required along the way. Today, our best estimate is that our current cash resources will carry us into the fourth quarter of this year. The investors in the March 2007 $5.2 million PIPE are already bringing their expertise and relationships to bear for the benefit of the Company and we are optimistic that they will also exercise their warrants to provide the follow-on financial resources required to achieve our goals. The warrants issued to those investors could provide in excess of $13.5 million in medium-term financing over the next 18 months prior to their expiration. Nevertheless, the investors have made no commitments related to these warrants and thus there is no certainty that they will exercise all, or a sufficient portion of, their warrants prior to or by the date of their expiration to fund our near-term growth and expansion plans and cash flow requirements through 2007 and beyond. We filed the registration statement to register the shares issued to the March 2007 PIPE investors and the shares underlying their warrants last week. As we meet the interim milestones along our journey, we believe that we will have additional financing opportunities that will permit us to achieve our ultimate destination. In any case, we take seriously our fiduciary responsibility to consider additional financing opportunities depending on the timing of warrant exercises. We will also continually refine the timing and costs of our investment programs as necessary.
I will now turn the call over to Rick and then Roger who together will more fully discuss the first steps in our journey.
Jerry Dotson-Calypte Vice President Finance
Thanks, Roger. And Good Morning.
Our revenue for the first quarter of 2007 totaled $52,000 compared with $91,000 for the first quarter of 2006, a decrease of $39,000 or 43%. Sales of our BED Incidence Test accounted for approximately three-quarters of our sales in the first quarter of both 2007 and 2006. Sales of our Aware TM HIV-1/2 rapid tests accounted for the balance in both quarters. We had a backlog of approximately $95,000 of BED Incidence Test orders that we were unable to ship at the end of the first quarter of 2007. We have acquired sufficient materials and components since the end of the quarter to eliminate this backlog and have already shipped most of the orders.
Our gross margin was 33% of sales in the first quarter of 2007, compared with 34% in the first quarter of 2006, resulting primarily from the similar proportion of BED Incidence Test and rapid test sales between the quarters. I'd like to make a couple of observations regarding these margins. First, they demonstrate the advantages of outsourced manufacturing in low-volume situations. We have not had to absorb the human and facility overhead expenses that would have accompanied under-utilized manufacturing operations since we currently rely on external, essentially fixed-price, manufacturing to produce our tests. Second, these margins are not typical of our expected future results because of the minimal amounts of revenues and product quantities over which certain expenses, like annual royalty minimums, have been allocated. Further, in those instances where we supply raw materials or components to our contract manufacturers, our current costs are based on resource-constrained purchasing patterns and pilot-plant-sized production lots, and do not reflect the economies of scale that we anticipate in our expected commercial scale operations.
Research and development costs decreased by $178,000 or 34%, from $523,000 in the first quarter of 2006 to $345,000 in the first quarter of 2007. Our domestic R&D expense decreased by $145,000, primarily because of staff vacancies during the first quarter of 2007 and lower costs related to outside consultants and clinical trials in the first quarter of 2007. Additionally, R&D expenses incurred by our Beijing Marr joint venture decreased by $33,000.
Selling, general and administrative costs decreased by $103,000 or 8%, from $1,290,000 in the first quarter of 2006 to $1,187,000 in the first quarter of 2007. The primary components of the net decrease include:
• a decrease of approximately $130,000 incurred by our Chinese joint ventures as a result of personnel reductions and reorganizations within those entities; offset by
• increases in investor relations consulting and business development expenses.
We recorded non-cash SG&A expense primarily related to compensation and consultant expenses of $352,000 in the first quarter of 2007 and $357,000 in the first quarter of 2006.
Our loss from operations for the first quarter of 2007, at $1,515,000, reflects a 15% decrease compared with the $1,782,000 loss reported for the first quarter of 2006.
We recorded interest expense of $1,407,000 for the first quarter of 2007 compared with $1,796,000 of interest expense in the first quarter of 2006. Non-cash interest expense was $1,336,000 in the first quarter of 2007 and $1,733,000 in the first quarter of 2006, in both cases, primarily as a result of amortizing the accounting discount related to our 2005 convertible note financing and other accounting for the derivative and anti-dilution obligations related to that financing.
Our balance sheet shows noticeable improvement with the completion of the $5.2 million PIPE on March 28, 2007. Our quarter-end cash balance of $4.9 million reflects the proceeds of the PIPE less repayment of funds advanced prior to its close as bridge financing.
Roger Gale - Calypte Chairman and CEO
Thank you, Tim.
Good morning and thank you for joining us on the call today. I am speaking to you from Europe after having been in Russia earlier this week, where we are beginning our private sector program with an NYSE-listed integrated mining and steel company that invests $30 million annually in social programs supporting the people residing in the communities where they have their plants. We'll have more to say about this later.
As usual, I will start with a few comments before we review the financial and operational results in more detail.
We have now entered a crucial, but very exciting stage in the Company's development. Completion of the PIPE of $5.2 million on 28 March 2007, with the potential of a further $13.5 million from exercising of warrants over the next 18 months, and the restructuring of our debt marks the departure point in the next stage of the company's development or “journey” - as we, the management team, are referring to this - to sustained profitability.
As we commented on our last call, this new funding and the restructuring of the debt have done more than just recapitalize the Company. We are already opening up new markets and new areas of existing markets. Although we are quite early in this process, we will give you a sense of our plans and accomplishments. It is a little premature to precisely define our end goal or the final destination on our journey. For now we will report happenings rather than forecast future events.
Jerry will now review the results of operations for Q107 and the related balance sheet and cash flow implications. Rick will then update you with our business development and IR plans post financing. I will then come back to you and discuss the ongoing operations and our plans for the future in some greater detail.
Jerry...
Tim Clemensen - Calypte Biomedical Corporation - Rubenstein IR
Good morning and welcome to the Calypte Biomedical First Quarter 2007 Results Conference Call. Joining us today from the Calypte management team are Roger Gale, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Richard Brounstein, Executive Vice President and Jerry Dotson, Vice President - Finance. Management's comments can be accessed via the Internet at the following address www.calypte.com and click on investors. The conference call will be available for replay through June 17, 2007. By now you should have received a copy of the Company's first quarter 2007 earnings release that was issued on Tuesday. If you have not, you can view the press release at Calypte's web site at www.calypte.com or feel free to contact our office at 212-843-8094 and we will fax it to you. In addition, Calypte filed its March 31, 2007 SEC Form 10-QSB on May 15 th , and it is also accessible from Calypte's website.
We'd like to remind you that during the course of this conference call the Company might make projections or other forward-looking statements regarding future events for the future financial performance of the company. We want to caution you that such statements are just predictions and that actual events or results may differ materially based upon factors discussed on this call or due to other events that are now unknown. Further we refer you to the documents the Company files from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission and other publicly filed documents. These documents contain and identify important risk factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those contained in our projections or forward-looking statements.
I would now like to turn the call over to Roger Gale, Chairman and CEO of Calypte Biomedical.
On May 18, 2007, Calypte Biomedical Corporation (the “Company”) held a webcast conference call with analysts and investors, during which Roger I. Gale, the Company's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Richard D. Brounstein, the Company's Executive Vice President, and Jerrold D. Dotson, the Company's Vice President - Finance and Administration, discussed the Company's financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2007 and provided an update on the Company's operations. A copy of the prepared remarks of Messrs. Gale, Brounstein and Dotson is attached as Exhibit 99.1 to this Form 8-K and is incorporated herein by reference.
http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=97535&p=irol-sec
Listen to Q1 2007 Results Conference Call HERE-->
http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=97535&p=irol-irhome
http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?p=irol-eventDetails&c=97535&eventID=1553870
BloodyRoyStillAttacksPeople!
You can try to address CC with your pessimistic attitude without the personal attacks.
Post your opinions of the CC, we all have them just so happens alot of us think yours stink to the lowest levels of hell.
Actually you are that stupid to continue to attack people.
We all know your attacks are to shut down conversation.
Shame Shame on bloodhound !
Humps my leg
Sniffs everyones bottomside
just the facts...
Bloodpuppy,AddressCC&StopThePersonalAttacks!!! ***
*** !#@$%#%^ hear me now.
Your below message is an attack on people. How about staying on topic about the CC.
bloodpuppy said;
"well I see the whole group of those "you can fool all of the time" are here.
ROFLMAO.
another day of apologizing for disappointing results and promising BIG things to come.(which haven't in 5 years)
..bet you guys console your women the same way.."
So NGP says;
"well I see the leg humping dog" you can talk out your bottomside all of the time" is here.
Standing up laughing cause Roy is so queer.
another day of bashing and personal attacks for a basher that is illiterate and innumerate and lieing BIG time about what he sees to come.(which he has for over 5 years)
..bet you bloodpuupy consoles all your men lovers the same way.
Bet my post gets removed 'cause only the leg humpiong bloodpuppy gets to attack personally.
Go figure.
=====
ps i liked the CC and the info Ceniises posted. (Thanks!)
TicToc
Have good weekend.
GoodNewsAnotherMillionShareDay Up$ 1.2cents
Think I'll go for another ride
say to the Gulf Coast.
See Ya
Have a Good Weekend!
TicToc
Ceniises,Right on the mark post you done But
the rest of the story is that Calypte is moving on from Research and Development to Marketing and Sales...
You knowed that though
Back later Thursday ;->
Enjoy!
So Mr. bloodpuppy ya want to know my PreSets?
i used to answer your questions but find you lie later on the trading scenario... Absolutely why i am entitled to call you a Liar! and obviously a Basher! sort of redundant though.
Do NOT even ask me anymore questions especially if you are going to go all Twisted and Queer sounding!!
Remember you never answer my questions;
Are you still afraid of taking a Blood HIV Test?
And why since your boyfriend claims his was negative, remember?
Wait i think i still can find the video, if you respond.
Those relationships of yours never last very long.
Why have you never asked questions at a Conference Call???
Going on a two day ride around Daytona so see ya'll later.
Tic Toc
9-->10 Month High at $.105 Nice Chart )
Sold alittle but still holding a Large Block
Preset at $.10 sold
and still climbing...
next preset at $.20
and then some real out there presets
Tic Toc
bloodpuppy, projecting your faults on others is obvious,
"Calypte jolding 10 cents was harder than newgreen getting a date."
FYI, i am happily married (30yrs) to the same blonde haired blue eyed woman of my youth and a grandfather five times over now... i still "date" her and she has never told me no.
So again you are wrong but still funny...
But do try to control yourself with the leg humping
LOL!
Caho,my response without any vulgarity was removed.
What was wrong about message 3376 ???
Why? Someone think the French are not cowards?
Check the history on W W II and you will see that they were and are... just like bashers...
For Americans today is Loyality day.
i'd post more DD but my posts get deleted so Why would i?
The only ones that get defended are bloodpuppy/Cato...
both are like a stuck record...
just put me in the Imus file.
Later
Investor100, YES! Take a position today.
May Day is May 1, and refers to any of several holidays celebrated on this day. May 1 was a traditional summer holiday in many pre-Christian European pagan cultures, and many elements of these holidays are still celebrated on May 1 today, such as the Maypole. While February 1 was the first day of Spring, May 1 was the first day of summer: hence, the summer solstice on June 25 (now the 22nd) was "midsummer."
In the Roman Catholic tradition, May is observed as Mary's month, and May Day is usually a celebration of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In this connection, Mary's head (in works of art, school skits, etc.) will often be adorned with flowers. Another May Day tradition (fading in popularity since the late 20th century) is the giving of May baskets, small baskets of candy and/or flowers, usually left anonymously on neighbors' doorsteps.
In the United States, May Day is officially observed as Loyalty Day.
MidMarch-->EndOfAprilChartShows100%Return TicToc
Some have doubled their money.
Not as good as $.10 to $1.55 though;
Right bloodpuppy?
or $.18 or $.33 to preset(s) over $1.00 to $1.75
ROTFLMAO !
Will we see $4 or $5 someday?
or more?
Anyone old enough to remember Microsoft's chart?
Plan to genetically trace reckless HIV infections
(Blood puppy you better hide!!)
Julia Medew
April 28, 2007
A public health risk that can no longer be of private concern
Dance with death
PEOPLE who have recklessly or deliberately infected others with HIV could be genetically traced under a project approved by the Federal Government.
Documents obtained by The Age reveal the project will investigate whether genotyping HIV infections — developing a genetic profile of the virus in patients — could identify groups of people or individuals responsible for transmitting the virus.
The approach, believed to be a world first, was approved by Health Minister Tony Abbott earlier this month after several high-profile cases raised concern about how HIV positive people were being managed by health authorities.
Three men, including Melbourne man Michael John Neal, are before Australian courts on charges of recklessly or deliberately infecting others with HIV.
Under the plan, titled HIV Epidemiology Project, a team of scientists will be asked to examine the epidemiology of current HIV infection in Australia, including infections in high-risk groups such as homosexual men, injecting drug users and migrants and refugees gaining entry to the country.
They will also look at the movement of HIV positive people across the nation and behaviour that could be contributing to rising infection rates. HIV infections have surged 41 per cent across Australia from 656 cases in 2000 to 930 in 2005.
Associate Professor Andrew Grulich, head of the HIV Epidemiology and Prevention Program run by the National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research, welcomed news of the project but said any effort to map the transmission of HIV across the nation in recent years would be controversial and extremely difficult.
"(Genotyping) may be of use for investigating particular individuals who are alleged to be behaving irresponsibly but at a population level there is more doubt about whether it would be useful," he said.
Dr Grulich believed a national approach to genotyping HIV infections would be a world first. It is only used in criminal cases or to determine a virus' resistance to drugs, he said.
Health Minister Tony Abbott said the project was not designed to target individuals for criminal prosecution, but to help public health education campaigns.
"If AIDS is still very much a disease of gays and drug users, there is not much point running a campaign pitched to the general public," he said.
Jamie Gardiner, a vice-president of Liberty Victoria, said any project designed to point the finger at particular people would undermine the public health approach to HIV that Australia had used since the 1980s.
Eight billion dollars predicted
Remember Melinda Gates purchasing Calypte position?
GENEVA (AFP) - The Global Fund to fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, one of the world's biggest sources of funding against the diseases, said Friday that it will need to triple in size by 2010.
The Fund's board agreed at a meeting to raise its spending target to six billion dollars a year to meet projected demand, it said in a statement.
Further increased demand for financing from developing countries could potentially raise the figure to eight billion dollars, it added.
Michel Kazatchkine, executive director of the Fund, said the new target was "an inspiring challenge" for the Fund's community, including health workers in more than 130 countries, technical partners, and donors.
The public-private partnership funds some two-thirds of all tuberculosis treatment worldwide, 45 percent of malaria treatment and nearly 30 percent of programmes against AIDS.
Kazatchkine dubbed the decision by representatives of donor and recipient governments, aid groups, and the private sector -- notably the Bill And Melinda Gates Foundation -- "a vote of confidence" in the Fund's work.
"Programmes we support are currently saving 3,000 lives per day," he said.
"The increase in funding will allow the world to do much, much more, to reach G8 and UN goals like providing AIDS treatment to all who need it, having every African child sleep under a bed net, and cutting the death toll of TB in half," he added.
The Global Fund has repeatedly called on donors to dig deeper into their pockets to help meet its goals.
"We need more finance, much more finance, and we need reliable and predictable finance," the then executive director, Richard Feachem, said last August.
The Global Fund was created in January 2002 by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to channel new money into local projects in poor nations.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation run by the US software billionaire and his wife kickstarted the Fund with an initial 100 million dollar donation, followed by 50 million in 2004 and a pledge of a further 500 million last year.
The board recognised that the expansion would require significant additional contributions from new and existing public and private sources, as well as "innovative" financing mechanisms.
OttomanR' Excellent Post!
Thank you for letting the proverbial cat out of the bag.
So much better than the leg humping bloodpuppy that will never grow up... humptydumpybloodpuppy will only continue to ask and answer its' self for comic relief.
Calypte has much more in mind globally than just HIV.
Gotta go, Saturday is beckoning....
QuitHumpingMyLeg BloodPuppy StopIt!
Try looking to a chart for help.
And try alittle math equation...
You are talking of my positions when your buddy
Tony come on board, right? LOL
But your innumerate and illeterate economic mind
will only come up with more comic relief...
ROTFLMAO!
Still holding a very large block...
like my gold hold
Tic Toc
Bloodpuppy do you see any way to play this move?
ROTFLMAO!
Bloodpuppy, still humping my leg after all these years.
When i first posted back in 2003, i posted to your remarks that no one was making any money with Calypte. i posted and if i have time will find that i bought a large block of CYPT and set an outrageous return preset trade, After coming back from vacation i found my preset had sold...
i put my original investment money in other stocks and have played with my profits ever since...
Later on, the "hiccups" you talked about also sold with my presets...
always holding a large block but also gaining more profits.
Yes i have got excited especially before Dec 1st Aids day and have learned to be careful that i do not "pump" so as not to hurt any one who does not have the discipline to understand...
So anyhow thank you for the attack as it proves much to those with eyes that see.
keep posting i'll stop in next week to see the mess you create.
LMAO, NGP
Reads/bloodpuppy, stop humping my leg, you know i made a huge amount with preset trades back in the Tony days.
i don't just average down but play the moves up and down, something you have no clue about...
Remember we've had this conversation before...
i am willing to lose the profits that i've made on Calypte by holding my block of stock...
"If you said you made a lot on other companies it may have some credence"
i've made a lot on other companies, TOO.
Tic Toc