"We are at the start of an exciting year with very encouraging sales and profit prospects for our pain therapy medical device, based on current distribution agreements and purchase orders," said John B. Nano, CTT's Chairman, President, and CEO. "We are a nation in pain -- several studies report that nearly 10% of adults in the U.S. suffer from moderate-to-severe pain, with over 50% of that group experiencing chronic or recurrent pain. Our Calmare Therapy Treatment* brings us to the forefront in meeting the needs of patients and improving palliative healthcare globally.
"The global pain management market generated $46.5 billion in sales in 2007, a 12.5% increase over 2006, according to a report published in June of 2009. Globally, pain treatment is coming to the forefront of medical care. For physicians, the ability to help patients with debilitating pain using our non-invasive medical device is an attractive alternative to powerful narcotics. The Calmare Therapy Treatment completely avoids the harmful adverse side effects and addictive properties, with risk of death, linked to narcotic painkillers.
"I am confident that global sales will increase dramatically in fiscal 2010," Mr. Nano continued. "With FDA 510(k) clearance and CE Medical Device approval, sales in the U.S., Europe, and other parts of the globe have accelerated. We currently have distribution agreements in place for over 40 countries, representing over 50% of the world's population, including our newest distributor for sales in Greece and Cyprus. Our Geneva, Switzerland-based distributor Life Episteme Group recently ordered 50 devices, and in the U.S., Rhode Island-based Calmar Pain Relief placed an order this month for 20 devices."
U.S-based clinical studies are underway at several prestigious university medical centers, including the Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center, the University of Miami Pain Management Center, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison Carbone Cancer Center. In May 2009, clinical investigators at the Massey Cancer Center began an independent clinical study to examine the ability of CTT's Calmare Therapy Treatment to decrease pain associated with chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN), which can be difficult to treat with traditional methods. Early results from the Massey study are quite promising.
The company continues to move in the right direction toward restoring profitability. Management has been diligent about reducing costs and fully expects revenue to grow as sales for the pain therapy medical device and other technologies in the portfolio increase. Strategic actions have decreased expenses over 45% since last year, decreasing from $7.2 million to approximately $3.8 million, reflecting further staff reductions and other cost-cutting measures. Revenue for the year was $0.35 million, compared to $1.2 million for the prior fiscal year. The decrease in revenue was primarily due to lower royalties from both our homocysteine assay and sexual dysfunction technology. Net loss for the full year was $3.5 million or $0.40 per share, compared to a net loss of $6.0 million, or $0.73 per share for the prior year.
