Verisante Technology, Inc. Announces 2013 Year End Results and Strategy for Direct Distribution
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Apr 30, 2014) - Verisante Technology, Inc. (TSX VENTURE:VRS)(VRSEF) (the "Company" or "Verisante"), a leader in cancer detection technology, announced today that the Company has released its financial results for the year ended December 31, 2013.
Highlights of the year include:
First revenues from the sale of Aura™ recognized in 2013;
Aura™ wins SPIE Prism Award for Photonics Innovation;
Exhibiting at the World Congress of Dermatology in Hamburg;
Completing phase 2 protoype of a Multispectral Imaging Camera; and
Completion of the Core™ study for lung cancer and the start of a study on nasopharyngeal cancer using Core™.
Verisante continues to streamline its production and manufacturing facilities and personnel to ensure the Company continues with the most cost-effective and efficient path of commercialization.
Revenues
Revenues are from the sale of Aura™ devices to the Company's exclusive Distributors in Canada and Europe. The Company recognizes revenue when units are shipped to the Distributor. For the year ending December 31, 2013 the Company recognized revenue of $775,300 compared to $0 reported for the same period in 2012.
The terms of sale of Aura™ devices are particular to the distribution agreements signed with each exclusive Distributor in Canada and Europe. Distributors have terms of sale which include shipping EXWorks the Company's manufacturing warehouse and payment terms of net 30-90 days.
Expenses
Total expenses for the year ended December 31, 2013 was $5,179,540 in comparison to $3,544,431 for the same period in 2012, representing an increase of $1,635,109. Expenses for 2013 include non cash expenses of amortization of $1,059,437 ($727,804 in 2012) and a bad debt expense of $508,262 ($0 in 2012). The company expects total expenses to decrease as the Company consolidates operations to preserve operating cash and focuses resources on sales and marketing to support revenue generating operations. General and Administration costs increased as a result of increased operations, from $1,982,832 in 2012 to $2,980,387 in 2013, representing an increase of $997,555.
As the Company began to recognize revenue in 2013, it also faced challenges in collecting on accounts receivables from certain foreign customers. As a result a bad debt expense of $508,262 was recognized in 2013 in comparison to $0 in 2012. The Company is currently reviewing its payment policies in order to mitigate bad debt risk in the future, which may require deposits from certain customers before product is shipped.
The Company's full Year End Financials and MD&A can be found as filed at www.sedar.com and also on the Company's website at www.verisante.com.
Direct Distribution of Aura™
In late 2013 the Company began to pursue direct sales of Aura™ in Canada and as a result made a strategic decision to not aggressively pursue its sales and marketing strategy until such time as a trained and qualified direct sales team was in place.
Subsequent to the year end, the Company hired a Director of Sales and a Canadian Sales Representative. Verisante's direct sales team believes the Company will be ready for a full launch of its products (both Aura™ and the Company's Raman Spectrometer for research purposes) in Q3 of 2014.
About Verisante Technology, Inc.
Verisante is a medical device company committed to commercializing innovative systems for the early detection of cancer. The Verisante Aura™ for skin cancer detection and the Verisante Core™ series for lung, colon and cervical cancer detection utilize a proprietary cancer detection platform while the operating software and probe technology are unique to each device. The cancer detection platform was developed by the BC Cancer Agency and tested and refined at the Skin Care Centre at Vancouver General Hospital. This exclusive platform technology allows Verisante to develop and offer a range of compact, non-invasive cancer detection devices that offer physicians immediate results for many of the most common cancers. Aura™ has been approved for sale in Canada, Europe and Australia. Core™ has not yet been approved for sale.
Verisante Aura™ was awarded Popular Science Magazine's "Best of What's New Award" for 2011, awarded a 2013 Prism Award for Innovation in Photonics and an Edison Award for Excellence in Innovation in 2013. Verisante Core™ was named one of the top 10 cancer breakthroughs of 2011 by the Canadian Cancer Society.
The TSX Venture Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved of the contents of this press release. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.
Website: www.verisante.com
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Forward-Looking Statements
This release contains forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, statements regarding the future commercialization of medical devices, the market demand for these products and the proprietary protections the Company will obtain with regard to the technology, all of which statements are subject to market risks, and the possibility that the Company will not be able to obtain patent protection or obtain sufficient customer demand. These statements are made based upon current expectations and actual results may differ from those projected due to a number of risks and uncertainties.
