INVERNESS, Scotland, Sept. 8, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- In Veritas, a novel medical device company (OTCBB:IVME), today announced that it has signed a Commercial Agreement with BCF Technology Ltd. for the worldwide sales and marketing of a veterinary derivative of its human Prediction of Labour Onset product.
Following successful trials of the device on horses, IVMD has sought a partner with the ability to bring the product to the worldwide market of race, eventing and domestic horses where foaling is highly unpredictable and costs owners and stables millions of dollar each year both in the expensive and lengthy attendance of vets and in the mortality of foals -- the second highest mortality rate in the animal kingdom.
Recently featured on UK television, the technology monitors, non-invasively, electrical signals from the uterus. As the female nears the time of birth the electrical activity of the uterus changes in a predictable manner thus giving a 'countdown' monitor. IVMD's system has been shown to be capable of accurately predicting the point of foaling within 2 days. Owners and Vets have welcomed this level of prediction as it has value in both reducing the cost and uncertainty of the foaling process.
There are 60 million domestic horses worldwide. As the average lifespan of a horse is approximately 20-25 years, approximately 2.6 million horses are born each year. In the UK, there are 900,000 horses; the number rising annually and in the UK equestrianism is a BPS2.6 billion industry (BETA National Equestrian Survey). In the USA alone, horse owners spend 12 billion dollars per year on their horses.
Brian Cameron, Chief Operating Officer, said, "We are particularly pleased with securing BCF as a distribution partner as they have a tremendous network in the veterinary sector and sound knowledge of the equine market. Veterinary applications can provide a valuable second stream of product to IVMD and relationships, such as this with BCF, enable us to focus on our key human products whilst maximising our return from the technology. We see this as the first of a number of potential veterinary products derived from IVMD's human diagnostics devices."
Alan Picken, Managing Director of BCF Technology Ltd., said, "This is an excellent opportunity to broaden our diagnostic equipment profile, complimenting our ultrasound and radiography imaging products. Our ultrasound imaging equipment scans the foetus during conception and early pregnancy. Now we can offer equipment that reliably predicts the delivery stage thus providing complete gestational diagnostics."
About BCF Technology Ltd.
With over 20 years of experience in ultrasound, BCF's expertise includes the manufacture of their own ultrasound equipment for the animal husbandry and veterinary markets, including pregnancy detection in a wide range of large animal species. BCF sells its systems throughout the World through direct sales and also with its own distributor network.
Based in Scotland, BCF also distributes products from some of the World's largest and most successful ultrasound manufacturers including Medison, Sonosite, Honda, GE Medical and distributes computed radiography in the UK and Irish veterinary market for Kodak. They also provide a high quality service and maintenance package to users from four centres worldwide in addition to delivering over 50 training programmes world wide every year to veterinary surgeons in the use of this equipment.
About IVMD, Inc.
IVMD, Inc. consists of two wholly-owned subsidiaries based in the UK: IVMD (UK) Ltd. and Jopejo Ltd. IVMD (UK) is in the final stage of its first groundbreaking medical device for the multi-billion dollar cardio-vascular market. Other medical conditions being addressed by IVMD's patented technology include the diabetes market and other areas where imaging is essential. Although the Hall Effect, the basic phenomena behind much of IVMD's technology, has been known since 1875, it is only through recent developments in semi-conductor technology and computing power that scientists have been able to apply it to the measurement of the magnetic properties of bone and tissue -- thereby enabling the Hall Effect to be considered in medical uses. The Hall Effect is a principle of physics discovered by E.H. Hall that is the measurable transverse voltage that occurs when an electric current flows through a conductor in a magnetic field. IVMD has a substantial portfolio of patents and patent applications relating to its technology. Jopejo Ltd. is also in the late stages of developing new and technically superior monitoring devices that utilize signal processing for the late-term pregnancy market.
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