LANGHORNE, Pa., April 9, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Power Medical Interventions(r), Inc. (Nasdaq:PMII), a leader in developing and commercializing Intelligent Surgical Instruments(tm), announced today that it has launched its green reload cartridge for use in its i60 Intelligent Surgical Instruments. The green reload complements the blue reload which was launched previously. The i60 Intelligent Surgical Instrument(tm) is a patented, first-of-its-kind linear stapler used in open and endoscopic surgery with indications in gastrointestinal, gynecological, general abdominal, and thoracic surgical procedures for resection, transection, creation of anastomoses, and for open occlusion of the heart's left atrial appendage. Reload cartridges are the "razor blades" to the Intelligent Surgical Instrument "razors" in the company's recurring revenue business model, and the company expects that sales of reloads will become its largest source of revenue.
PMI's Intelligent Surgical Instruments(tm) are computer-assisted, power-actuated endomechanical instruments that surgeons use for cutting, stapling and tissue manipulation in a variety of procedures in open surgery and minimally invasive surgery. The Company believes that compared to conventional endomechanical devices, its Intelligent Surgical Instruments(tm) offer greater precision and consistency, superior compressive force, improved access to anatomical sites and enhanced ease of use. PMI's Intelligent Surgical Instruments(tm) have been used in over 30,000 surgical procedures worldwide.
Power Medical introduced blue reloads concurrently with the launch of its i60 product in the third quarter of 2007. The launch of the green reloads was delayed due to technical challenges surrounding the design of the slim green reload and its ability to accommodate the larger staples used in green reloads. The launch of the green reloads allows the Company to expand its product offering to cover a wider array of surgical procedures that cannot be completed solely with the blue reloads. In addition, both the blue and green reloads will be used in future products currently in development.
Michael Whitman, President and Chief Executive Officer, commented, "The addition of the green reload expands our ability to meet our customer's request that we become a full line supplier of surgical stapling instruments. We are now able to support a wider array of surgical applications in both our current customer base and in our targeted customer base. Additionally, a number of the single port devices and natural orifice devices that we have under development will utilize our current reload design. Lastly, we previously announced the development of our Reload Automation Machine (RAM), which we expect to have in line during the end of the second quarter of this year. Both the green and blue reloads will ultimately be assembled by us in-house using the RAM, which we expect to enhance our future gross margin. Although we were faced with technical challenges that delayed the launch of this product, our dedicated R&D and manufacturing management were able to overcome these challenges and provide a robust product that we believe will meet our demanding customer requirements. We are confident that we will begin to see increased market penetration as well as increased revenues over the next few quarters as we are now able to supply surgeons with a complete product offering of blue and green reloads to accompany the i60 and our near term product launches."
About Power Medical Interventions, Inc.:
Power Medical Interventions(r), Inc. is an integrated medical device company and the world's only provider of computer-assisted, power-actuated surgical stapling products. PMI's Intelligent Surgical Instruments(tm) enable less invasive surgical techniques to benefit surgeons, patients, hospitals and healthcare networks. The company was founded in 1999, and is headquartered in Langhorne, PA with additional offices in Germany, France, and Japan. To learn more about Power Medical Interventions, Inc. and its products, please visit www.pmi2.com
Safe Harbor Statement
Statements included in this press release which are not historical in nature, including statements about the company's expected future revenues, are forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are based upon the current beliefs and expectations of the company's management and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ include those identified under the heading "Risk Factors" in the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2007, as well as the following: we have a limited operating history and have sustained net losses in each year since our inception, which are likely to continue at least through 2008 as we continue to invest in the development of our business; we must increase our sales significantly in order to become profitable and are dependent in doing so on the success of our SurgASSIST platform and in particular of our newly released i60 and iDrive next generation products; we cannot be certain that our SurgASSIST platform will achieve the broad market acceptance necessary to develop a sustainable and profitable business; to successfully implement our business strategy, we will be required to develop and release new products and to enhance our existing products on a timely basis, and in the past, we have experienced delays in releasing new products and any future product development delays could adversely affect our results of operations; we have limited manufacturing experience and have encountered significant manufacturing difficulties in the recent past, and we may not be able to increase our production to provide an adequate supply of our products to customers; in order to achieve and sustain profitability, we must substantially improve our gross margins, and we cannot assure you that we will be able to achieve sufficient cost reductions in the manufacture of our products to achieve profitability; and we need to make significant improvements in our regulatory compliance operations and in our internal control over financial reporting as well as other improvements to our management, finance, technical and regulatory personnel, systems and facilities in order to support our expected growth.
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