SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA--(Marketwire - Feb. 13, 2013) - Patient Home Monitoring (PHM) (TSX VENTURE:PHM), a company focused on in-home management for patients with chronic disease, today announced it has launched its plan to penetrate the Canadian Coumadin testing market. In conjunction with this plan, PHM will engage Mario Cortis, Chief Executive of MediSure Canada Inc. as a strategic consultant on the project.
The Canadian Market for Coumadin Testing
There are an estimated 400,000 patients in Canada suffering from indications that could benefit greatly from in-home INR testing. Currently, there are no approved providers for this service in Canada. Assuming current US reimbursement rates, the Canadian market is in excess of $700 million.
Mr. Cortis will act as a consultant focusing on approval for PHM's service in the Canadian market as well as acting as a strategic advisor on reducing PHM's in-home meter costs.
Mr. Mario Cortis as Strategic Consultant
In less than 24 months, as CEO and majority shareholder of MediSure Canada Inc., Mr. Cortis successfully penetrated the Canadian diabetes market by in-licensing the Medi+Sure® glucose meter, obtaining a Class 3 Medical Device Licence from Health Canada (similar to FDA approval) and then securing full reimbursement inclusion from all major Private and Public Health Care Insurance formularies in Canada, including the largest, the Ontario Government's Drug Benefit Formulary, the ODB.
PHM will leverage the same regulatory and reimbursement pathways that MediSure Canada used for its approvals and anticipates the process for consideration can be achieved in a similar time period.
Mr. Cortis is an aggressive sales and marketing expert with deep experience in heart related devices and services worldwide. For over 10 years, Mr. Cortis served as a marketing executive for Johnson & Johnson as Director of a $1 billion subsidiary selling cardiac arrhythmia devices and services. Mr. Cortis has vast international experience in device and services marketing specifically in the cardiac industry. Mr. Cortis is a graduate of Laurentian University in Ontario Canada, and lives just outside of Toronto.
"I look forward to penetrating the Canadian market for Coumadin Services," Dr. Jaime Gerber, CEO of PHM said, "With Mario on board, we now have a team member with a proven track record in Canada. He has shown an ability to quickly and efficiently navigate the regulatory pathways in Canada to obtain both reimbursement and device approval. We expect to leverage this ability and experience with the anticipation of acquiring similar approvals in a short time period. We are excited to launch the effort to open up the Canadian market and to offer a better in-home healthcare option to Canadians who are living with chronic heart conditions."
About PHM
PHM is a healthcare services company focused on providing in-home services for patients suffering from chronic disease. PHM's main revenue line is offered to patients on blood thinner medications such as Coumadin® or warfarin. PHM has recently announced it will embark on a process to expand services to its patient base in both the US and Canada.
Information in this news release that is not current or historical factual information may constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of securities laws. Implicit in this information, particularly in respect of the future outlook of PHM and anticipated events or results, are assumptions based on beliefs of PHM's senior management as well as information currently available to it. While these assumptions were considered reasonable by PHM at the time of preparation, they may prove to be incorrect. Readers are cautioned that actual results are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including the availability of funds and resources to pursue operations, decline of reimbursement rates, dependence on few payors, possible new drug discoveries, a novel business model, dependence on key suppliers, granting of permits and licenses in a highly regulated business, competition, low profit market segments as well as general economic, market and business conditions, and could differ materially from what is currently expected.
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 release.
Contact Information:
Michael Dalsin
Chairman
Managing Director, Stanmore Capital Partners, Inc
(323) 253-3055