Medafor
Misstatements
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The
Truth
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· Medafor misstatement #1:
Sales to CryoLife
represent approximately 20% of Medafor's sales and are limited to the
cardiac market, only one of many market opportunities available to
Medafor. (Source: Second sentence of Paragraph 7, Page 1 of Medafor
Letter to Shareholders dated February 10, 2010)
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· FACT: CryoLife's
contractual rights extend beyond the cardiac field. CryoLife
has the exclusive right to sell the MPH product into cardiac and vascular
surgeries in the United States (excluding Department of Defense
facilities) and into cardiac, vascular and general surgeries in the rest
of the World (except China and Japan) excluding ENT, orthopedic,
neurosurgery and topical applications.
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· Medafor misstatement #2:
While CryoLife widely
touts its sales force having what it reports to be $6 million in worldwide
Hemostase sales, CryoLife fails to mention that Medafor transferred a
significant portion of that business in already established sales.
(Second sentence of Paragraph 4, Page 2 of Medafor Letter to Shareholders
dated February 10, 2010)
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· FACT: A significant
portion of CryoLife’s sales were generated from its own efforts, not from
a transfer by Medafor of established sales. In fact, while the litigation
between CryoLife and Medafor is unrelated to this process, part of
CryoLife’s contention in the lawsuit against Medafor is that the company
did not transfer sales that they were required to, that were CryoLife’s
exclusive right.
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· Medafor misstatement #3:
Furthermore, we have
serious doubts about the outlook of CryoLife’s business and, consequently,
its ability to invest in the MPH technology. (First sentence of
Paragraph 1, Page 3 of Medafor Letter to Shareholders dated, February 10,
2010)
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· FACT: Unlike Medafor,
whose auditors expressed a “going concern” opinion in September 2009 with
respect to its December 31, 2008 financials, CryoLife has a strong balance
sheet, with over $35 million in cash as of February 18, 2010 and a $15
million line of credit, with availability of approximately $14.5 million.
Because CryoLife is traded on the New York Stock Exchange and because it
is generating profits and cash flow, it has ready access to both equity
and debt markets. Medafor’s statement runs counter to the
guidance CryoLife recently provided to its investors and the consensus
reached by the medical device financial analysts who cover CryoLife
stock.
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· Medafor misstatement #4:
Not only does
CryoLife appear to be under significant earnings pressure, having lost
significant value over the years, but we also believe that CryoLife’s
underperforming sales force has done an inadequate job of promoting our
product in its exclusive territories. (Paragraph 7, Page 2 of
Medafor Letter to Shareholders dated, February 10, 2010)
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· FACT: CryoLife has grown
revenues from $62.4 million at the end of 2004 to approximately $112
million in 2009. In the fourth quarter of 2009 alone, the
company reported record quarterly revenue in Q4 2009 of $28.6
million. This was CryoLife’s 12th consecutive quarter of
profitability. CryoLife has been able to expand sales in 2009
of HemoStase in spite of Medafor’s continual breaches of the Exclusive
Distribution Agreement ("EDA"), including selling into CryoLife’s
territory and field, and a refusal of Medafor to comply with the
provisions of the EDA related to providing reasonable commercial efforts
with regard to regulatory approvals. Because of those refusals,
CryoLife has been UNABLE to, or been delayed in obtaining, regulatory
approvals in many countries where it believes sales would have been
significant.
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· Medafor misstatement #5:
Furthermore, CryoLife
has NO experience in selling into ENT, Neuro, Orthopedic or general
surgery markets . . . (1st sentence of paragraph 6, page 2 of
Medafor Letter to Shareholders, dated February 10, 2010)
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· FACT: CryoLife has
substantial experience selling into general surgery. CryoLife’s
BioGlue is approved for use in most international markets for general surgery, neurosurgery,
pulmonary surgery and abdominal surgery and is actively sold for these
clinical uses. CryoLife is marketing BioFoam in general surgery -- liver
sealing internationally, and will be conducting trials in the
United States in the same area. Finally, and most importantly, the
EDA that Medafor signed with CryoLife gives CryoLife the exclusive right (except
in China and Japan) to sell the MPH product in general surgeries
outside the United States (excluding ENT, Neuro, orthopedic and topical
surgeries).
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· Medafor misstatement #6:
Furthermore,
CryoLife’s unsolicited proposal does not even come close to meeting the
revenue potential of the existing EDA, which is valued between
$40 million and $50
million. (1st sentence of paragraph 7, page 1 of Medafor
Letter to Shareholders, dated February 10, 2010)
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· FACT: In referring to
CryoLife’s purchase orders under the EDA as a measure of value, CryoLife
believes Medafor is trying to confuse investors by comparing “apples” to
“oranges.” These are merely purchase orders that CryoLife would make over
the course of the next four and a half years and hence are not an accurate
measure of the value of the EDA or the company. Any true
valuation of Medafor would need to reflect multiples of revenue, earnings,
and cash flows, and would be offset by the high costs associated with
running the business and other factors. It is also important to
note that Medafor has breached its agreement with CryoLife by not
fulfilling its obligations under the EDA, severely impacting the value of
the agreement to all parties, including Medafor’s shareholders. It is
CryoLife’s belief that Medafor’s Hemostatic technology can achieve its
highest potential under CryoLife’s stewardship, given CryoLife’s success
in biomaterial commercialization and superior financial
strength.
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· Medafor
misstatement #7: CryoLife . .
. launched baseless litigation after our Board rejected the
second unsolicited offer to acquire Medafor for an amount that the Board
determined to be grossly inadequate. (2nd sentence of paragraph
3, page 3 of Medafor Letter to Shareholders, dated February 10,
2010)
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· FACT: Medafor's
breaches of the EDA began almost immediately after it was signed. CryoLife
attempted over a period of more than 10 months to make Medafor comply with
the EDA, to little success. The persistent breaches of the EDA by
Medafor were the basis of CryoLife’s litigation. Litigation was
resorted to by CryoLife to protect itself and its shareholders only after
all other efforts to resolve the matter constructively proved
fruitless. These efforts included discussions with Medafor’s
management and attempts to enter into negotiations with the Medafor Board
about a combination of the two companies as a mechanism to resolve the
companies’ outstanding issues and avoid the cost and distraction of
litigation.
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· Medafor misstatement #8:
CryoLife Needs Medafor
Far More than Medafor Needs CryoLife (2nd heading, page 2 of
Medafor Letter to Shareholders, dated February 10, 2010)
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· FACT: CryoLife is a
leading medical technology company that has enjoyed great success over its
26-year history. Its product portfolio includes key service and
product offerings for cardiac and vascular surgery, as well as for general
and pulmonary surgery. In addition, CryoLife’s strong balance
sheet, with over $35 million in cash as of February 18, 2010, and access
to an additional $15 million in credit, allows it to make significant
investments in the marketing and further development of our
products. Medafor, on the other hand, has received a “going concern”
opinion from its auditors with respect to its December 31, 2008 financials
and Medafor’s capital constraints prevent it from conducting significant
research and development and investing in its sales force and distribution
network in a meaningful way.
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