WCUI's Psoria-Shield® Announces Sales Roll-Out of Psoria-Light® to Key Markets
Evolutionary Medical Device Comes to the Aid of Millions Suffering from Psoriasis, Eczema, & Vitiligo
SCHAUMBURG, Ill., May 22, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Wellness Center USA, Inc. (OTCQB: WCUI), a Schaumburg, IL – alternative healthcare company, is pleased to announce that wholly-owned subsidiary Psoria-Shield has rolled out its domestic sales program for Psoria-Light and sales are currently underway in the North East, Mid-Atlantic, Mid-West and California.
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Psoria-Light is an evolutionary new medical device, designed to treat skin disorders currently affecting over 37.4 million people, or near 12% of the US population. Psoria-Light emits targeted ultraviolet A or B (UVA or UVB respectively) phototherapy to treat psoriasis, eczema, vitiligo and other UV treatable skin diseases. The device is the first-in-the-world to utilize Targeted Deep UV LEDs to accomplish the task, overcoming many of the drawbacks of legacy phototherapy devices.
The sales roll out is being led by Kelly DeGideo, national sales manager and one of the phototherapy / laser industry's most powerful and respected sales and marketing executives. Mr. DeGideo brings over 25 years of sales experience centered upon laser and light based medical devices. He has brought value to several major market players, including Lumenis, Ra Medical, and DUSA Pharmaceutical. Ra Medical manufactures and distributes excimer laser products that compete with Psoria-Light and other excimer laser companies.
"During my 25+ years in the medical device sector, I have only seen two other technologies introduced that were true game changers," commented Kelly DeGideo, National Sales Manager for Psoria-Shield. "The first was the FDA clearance for the Refractive PRK laser which evolved into the well-known LASIK devices. The second was the introduction of the first infrared Diode for Permanent Hair Removal. These are billion dollar industries today. I spent years successfully selling excimer lasers to dermatologists and I'm well aware of the market. Psoria-Light is truly a unique combination that offers dermatologists safety, efficacy, and most importantly improved cost of ownership that in our opinion competing excimer lasers simply can't provide. The successful independent sales groups we have signed and continue to enlist all share this perspective and are eager to participate. Much like with the initial launches for the PRK laser and infrared Diode for permanent hair removal, Psoria-Light is the next game changer," continued Mr. DeGideo.
The device was developed by Mr. Scot Johnson, President and CEO of Psoria-Shield, and his team of engineers who together have developed over 30 FDA-cleared, CE marked devices sold worldwide. The Deep UV LEDs utilized by Psoria-Light were created in parts by DARPA, NASA and the ESA (European Space Agency) for use in space. Psoria-Light's adaptation of them for targeted UV phototherapy has earned it an exclusive distinction from the Space Foundation as a Certified Space Technology (http://www.spacecertification.org/certified-products/psoria-light). The light generated by these LEDs has been demonstrated in previous clinical papers to be both more therapeutic and carry fewer side effects than other conventional UV light sources.
Psoria-Light has been in clinical use since January 2012, through an initial key opinion leader (KOL) soft rollout. This provided Psoria-Shield day-to-day in-field clinical feedback and optimization opportunities. In August 2012, Mr. Kelly DeGideo was brought on board to develop and lead the domestic sales expansion for the company. Production units for the rollout are in process and sales revenues are expected to start in the next 30 to 45 days. Psoria Light revenues in conjunction with increased revenues anticipated from CNS-Wellness, WCUI's other subsidiary, shall be reported consolidated through WCUI.
Mr. DeGideo's insider insights into the excimer laser market are being applied to the expanding domestic sales campaign already underway. He has assembled, trained, and deployed several regional independent representative sales groups ("IR groups") who specialize in dermatological medical device placement. Psoria-Shield's sales program benefits from close relationships the IR groups have with their regional healthcare provider community and their knowledge of the market in general, combined with Mr. DeGideo's established management track record and insider knowledge. Currently, sales under this program are underway in the North East, Mid-Atlantic, Mid-West and California.
Background:
Psoria-Shield Inc. designs, manufactures, and distributes medical devices under an ISO 13485 quality management system. Located in Tampa, FL the company has on-site manufacturing capability to produce its flagship product Psoria-Light®. The company is led by its founder, Mr. Scot Johnson, having attained his degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of South Florida and completing Project Management Professional coursework through Villanova Project Management Institute.
The evolutionary Psoria-Light is distinguished by its capability to deliver high dosages of ultraviolet A or B (UVA or UVB respectively) specifically to the patient's lesions (e.g. psoriasis, eczema, vitiligo), and not to healthy skin. This is referred to as "targeted UV phototherapy", as opposed to "non-targeted UV phototherapy". An example of non-targeted UV phototherapy is a tanning booth or "lightbox", wherein healthy and unhealthy skin is irradiated with UV. Targeted UV phototherapy additionally provides a clearly unique clinical efficacy advantage in that by sparing healthy skin, much higher dosages of UV can be administered to the diseased skin, clearing or re-pigmenting it at significantly faster rates. In short, healthy skin is spared and unhealthy skin is gets better quicker, a double barreled advantage.
Competition
Psoria-Light was designed to be a superior device alternative to legacy excimer lasers. Excimer lasers are expensive to acquire and maintain, suffer several disadvantages with respect to insurance reimbursement, carry safety considerations which limit the type of staff that can operate the device (varies by state), and can only emit UVB light.
Psoria-Light is the first-to-market targeted UV phototherapy device designed to utilize Deep UV LEDs to generate both NB-UVB and UVA light, overcoming significant safety and reimbursement issues of laser technology. Through integration of several patent pending technologies, Psoria-Light offers two separate billable treatment modalities in one device. This allows Psoria-Light to treat many billable UV-treatable skin disorders, in contrast to the significant limitations faced by excimer lasers, limited to psoriasis and occasionally vitiligo (serious cases normally exposed to sunlight as in the face).
In short, Psoria-Light is less expensive to own and operate and has the potential to treat more skin disorders over excimer lasers.
The major competitive advantages include:
- First-to-Market Technology
- Two Modalities: NB-UVB & UVA
- Non-Laser: Medical assistants and technicians can operate, freeing up doctors and their physicians assistants and registered nurses to perform more advanced procedures
- Established Ease of Reimbursement
- FDA cleared, CE marked
- In Clinical Use Since January 2012
Televised Coverage of Psoria-Light can be found at: http://www.abcactionnews.com/dpp/news/health/uv-technology-reverses-pigmentation-loss-from-vitiligo
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About Wellness Center USA, Inc.
Wellness Center USA, Inc. http://wellnesscenterusa.com/ was created to address important healthcare and wellness needs; through break-through solutions, centered on the "well-being of the body and mind". Wellness Center USA, Inc.'s three business units are:
AminoFactory (www.aminofactory.com), a division of Wellness Center USA, Inc., is an online supplement store where health conscious consumers can make informed decisions about purchasing the highest quality amino acids and other nutritional products in just a few clicks.
CNS-Wellness (www.cns-wellness.com) is a Tampa, FL based cognitive science clinic business, specializing in the treatment of behavioral health disorders in at least three focus areas: a) stress related disorders including anxiety and panic attacks, depression, and obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders, b) developmental and learning disorders such as autistic spectrum issues and Asperser's syndrome, AD/HD, learning differences and birth trauma-related issues, and c) purely brain-based issues including epilepsy and seizure disorders, traumatic brain injuries, and related acquired brain syndromes. CNS-Wellness LLC, was acquired by Wellness Center USA, Inc. ("WCUI") in August 2012, and is now a wholly-owned subsidiary.
Psoria-Shield Inc. (www.psoria-shield.com) is a Tampa, FL based company specializing in design, manufacturing, and distribution of medical devices to domestic and international markets. PSI employs full-time engineering, production, sales staff, and manufactures within an ISO 13485 certified quality system. PSI's flagship product, Psoria-Light®, is FDA-cleared and CE marked and delivers targeted UV phototherapy for the treatment of certain skin disorders. Psoria-Shield Inc. was acquired by Wellness Center USA, Inc. ("WCUI") in August 2012, and is now a wholly-owned subsidiary.
Safe Harbor Statement:
Certain statements contained in this news release that are not statements of historical fact constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements include statements regarding the proposed exchange transaction, the anticipated closing date of the transaction and anticipated future results following a closing of the transaction. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. They often include words like "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," and "intend" or future or conditional verbs such as "will," "would," "should," "could," or "may." While it is not possible to identify all factors, risks and uncertainties that might relate to, affect or arise from the proposed transaction, and which might cause actual results to differ materially from expected results, such factors, risks and uncertainties include delays in completing the transaction, difficulties in integrating operations following the transaction, difficulties in manufacturing and delivering products, potential market rejection of products or services, increased competitive pressures, changes in general economic conditions, legislative and regulatory changes that adversely affect the business in which the parties are engaged, changes in the securities markets and other factors, risks and uncertainties disclosed from time to time in documents that the Company files with the SEC.
SOURCE Wellness Center USA, Inc.
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