CryoLife Sends Letter to Medafor, Inc. Shareholders
2010年2月24日 - 7:07AM
PRニュース・ワイアー (英語)
ATLANTA, Feb. 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- CryoLife, Inc.
(NYSE:CRY), an implantable biological medical device and
cardiovascular tissue processing company, announced today that it
has sent the following letter to Medafor shareholders. Important
Information for Medafor Shareholders February 23, 2010 Dear Fellow
Medafor Shareholder: On February 18, 2010, CryoLife, Inc. announced
its earnings for the fourth quarter of 2009. Enclosed is a copy of
the press release for your information. In light of our proposal to
acquire Medafor for a combination of cash and CryoLife stock, we
want to ensure that Medafor shareholders have access to the latest
information about CryoLife, its financial performance, and its
outlook for growth. As you can see, CryoLife is continuing to
thrive in very demanding economic conditions. We increased our
revenues for the fourth quarter 2009 by 12 percent to a record of
$28.6 million compared to $25.5 million for the fourth quarter of
2008. This was also the 12th consecutive quarter of profitability
for CryoLife. In addition to reporting record annual revenues of
$111.7 million and continued, consistent profitability, our ability
to significantly increase our cash balances through strong
operating cash flow of over $16.5 million in 2009 is a very
encouraging sign of the health of our business. Looking ahead, we
expect to achieve record revenues and operating earnings in 2010 by
continuing to execute on our strategy and invest in our growth. For
additional details, including our forward-looking disclaimer,
please see the enclosed press release. We also want to update you
regarding developments in our litigation with Medafor. As you are
aware, on April 29, 2009, CryoLife filed a lawsuit against Medafor
in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia
alleging claims for, among other things, breach of contract, fraud,
negligent misrepresentation, and violations of the Georgia
Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. While the Court
initially dismissed CryoLife's fraud and negligent
misrepresentations claims, on February 18, 2010, the Court issued
an Order reinstating these claims against Medafor based on
Medafor's alleged misrepresentations to CryoLife in the
distribution agreement and after the agreement was executed. We are
pleased with the Court's decision on this matter and remain
disappointed with Medafor's breaches of our agreement which forced
this litigation. For a more complete description of the litigation,
please view our Form 10-K filed with the SEC on February 19, 2010,
which is available on our website, http://www.cryolife.com/.
Finally, we wanted to alert you to a new section on our website
that is dedicated to addressing inaccurate and misleading
statements from Medafor regarding our proposal and CryoLife. We are
committed to ensuring that Medafor shareholders receive full and
accurate information and are dismayed by the inaccuracies in
Medafor's communications with its shareholders. We have provided
corrections and/or clarifications to these statements at
http://www.cryolife.com/medaforoffer/medmiss.html. This section
will be updated as needed. We continue to believe that a
combination of CryoLife and Medafor would create significant value
for shareholders of both companies. I look forward to communicating
with you again in the near future. Sincerely, Steven G. Anderson
Founder, CEO and President IMPORTANT This letter is provided for
informational purposes only and is not an offer to purchase nor a
solicitation of offers to sell shares of Medafor or CryoLife.
Subject to future developments, CryoLife may file a registration
statement and/or tender offer documents and/or proxy statement with
the SEC in connection with the proposed combination of the two
companies. Shareholders should read those filings, and any other
filings made by CryoLife with the SEC in connection with the
combination, as they will contain important information. Those
documents, if and when filed, as well as CryoLife's other public
filings with the SEC, may be obtained without charge at the SEC's
website at http://www.sec.gov/ and at CryoLife's website at
http://www.cryolife.com/. About CryoLife, Inc. Founded in 1984,
CryoLife, Inc. is a leader in the processing and distribution of
implantable living human tissues for use in cardiac and vascular
surgeries throughout the U.S. and Canada. The Company's CryoValve®
SG pulmonary heart valve, processed using CryoLife's proprietary
SynerGraft® technology, has FDA 510(k) clearance for the
replacement of diseased, damaged, malformed, or malfunctioning
native or prosthetic pulmonary valves. The Company's CryoPatch® SG
pulmonary cardiac patch has FDA 510(k) clearance for the repair or
reconstruction of the right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT), which
is a surgery commonly performed in children with congenital heart
defects, such as tetralogy of Fallot, truncus arteriosus, and
pulmonary atresia. CryoPatch SG is distributed in three anatomic
configurations: pulmonary hemi-artery, pulmonary trunk, and
pulmonary branch. The Company's BioGlue® Surgical Adhesive is FDA
approved as an adjunct to sutures and staples for use in adult
patients in open surgical repair of large vessels. BioGlue is also
CE Marked in the European Community and approved in Canada and
Australia for use in soft tissue repair. The Company's BioFoam(TM)
Surgical Matrix is CE Marked in the European Community for use as
an adjunct in the sealing of abdominal parenchymal tissues (liver
and spleen) when cessation of bleeding by ligature or other
conventional methods is ineffective or impractical. BIOGLUE
Aesthetic® Medical Adhesive is CE Marked in the European Community
for periosteal fixation following endoscopic browplasty (brow lift)
in reconstructive plastic surgery and is distributed by a third
party for this indication. CryoLife distributes HemoStase® a
hemostatic agent, in much of the U.S. for use in cardiac and
vascular surgery and in many international markets for cardiac,
vascular, and general surgery, subject to certain exclusions. To
view a copy of the press release that accompanied the letter go to
http://www.cryolife.com/4Q2009Earnings. Statements made in this
press release that look forward in time or that express
management's beliefs, expectations or hopes are forward-looking
statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995. These statements include those regarding
anticipated 2010 performance and statements regarding the expected
impact of our net operating loss carryforwards on our cash outlays
for tax obligations. These future events may not occur as and when
expected, if at all, and, together with our business, are subject
to various risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties
include that we are significantly dependent on our revenues from
BioGlue and are subject to a variety of risks affecting this
product, we are subject to stringent domestic and foreign
regulation which may impede the approval process of our tissues and
products, hinder our development activities and manufacturing
processes and, in some cases, result in the recall or seizure of
previously cleared or approved tissues and products, our proposed
acquisition of Medafor poses a number of risks, Medafor's
management has rejected our acquisition offer and refused to
negotiate with us, and if we attempt to launch a hostile offer to
acquire Medafor we will incur significant expense and may not
succeed; in the event such a hostile offer does succeed, we will
not have the benefit of due diligence and may incur unanticipated
costs or liabilities, the lawsuit we filed against Medafor
regarding our distribution agreement with Medafor may adversely
impact our relationship with Medafor and could hinder our
distribution of HemoStase or prevent us from distributing
HemoStase, healthcare policy changes, including pending proposals
to reform the U.S. healthcare system, may have a material adverse
effect on us, uncertainties related to patents and protection of
proprietary technology may adversely affect the value of our
intellectual property, uncertainties related to patents and
protection of proprietary technology for products distributed by
CryoLife may adversely affect our ability to distribute those
products, the tissues we process and our products allegedly have
caused and may in the future cause injury to patients, and we have
been and may be exposed to product liability claims and additional
regulatory scrutiny as a result, we are dependent on the
availability of sufficient quantities of tissue from human donors,
our CryoValve SGPV post-clearance study may not provide expected
results, demand for our tissues and products could decrease in the
future, which could have a material adverse effect on our business,
the success of many of our tissues and products depends upon strong
relationships with physicians, consolidation in the health care
industry could lead to demands for price concessions or limits or
eliminate our ability to sell to certain of our significant market
segments, our existing insurance policies may not be sufficient to
cover our actual claims liability, we may be unable to obtain
adequate insurance at a reasonable cost, if at all, the loss of any
of our sole-source suppliers could have an adverse effect on our
revenues, financial condition, profitability, and cash flows,
intense competition may affect our ability to operate profitably,
regulatory action outside of the U.S. has affected our business in
the past and may affect our business in the future, rapid
technological change could cause our services and products to
become obsolete, continued fluctuation of foreign currencies
relative to the U.S. dollar could materially and adversely impact
our business, our credit facility limits our ability to pursue
significant acquisitions, key growth strategies may not generate
the anticipated benefits, there are limitations on the use of our
net operating loss carryforwards, our ability to borrow under our
credit facility may be limited, we may not be successful in
obtaining necessary clinical results and regulatory approvals for
services and products in development, and our new services and
products may not achieve market acceptance, extensive government
regulation may adversely affect our ability to develop and market
services and products, investments in new technologies and
acquisitions of products or distribution rights may not be
successful, if we are not successful in expanding our business
activities in international markets, we may be unable to increase
our revenues, we are not insured against all potential losses, and
natural disasters or other catastrophes could adversely affect our
business, financial condition, and profitability, and we are
dependent on key personnel. These risks and uncertainties include
the risk factors detailed in our Securities and Exchange Commission
filings, including our Form 10-Q filing for the quarter ended March
31, 2009, our Form 10-Q filing for the quarter ended June 30, 2009,
our Form 10-Q filing for the quarter ended September 30, 2009, our
Form 10-K to be filed for the year ended December 31, 2009 and the
Company's other SEC filings. The Company does not undertake to
update its forward-looking statements. For additional information
about the company, visit CryoLife's Web site:
http://www.cryolife.com/. Media Contacts: D. Ashley Lee Executive
Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer
Phone: 770-419-3355 Nina Devlin Edelman Phone: 212-704-8145
DATASOURCE: CryoLife, Inc. CONTACT: D. Ashley Lee, Executive Vice
President, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer of
CryoLife, +1-770-419-3355; or Nina Devlin, Edelman, +1-212-704-8145
Web Site: http://www.cryolife.com/
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