Echo Therapeutics makes significant advance in designing Symphony tCGM device

Feb 19 2010

Echo Therapeutics, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: ECTE), a company developing the needle-free Symphony™ tCGM System as a non-invasive, wireless, transdermal continuous glucose monitoring (tCGM) system and the Prelude™ SkinPrep System for transdermal drug delivery, announced today that the Company has made a significant advance in the product design of its Symphony tCGM device and that it has developed its next generation electronic component package. This important advance includes an initial 33% reduction in component size and improved architectural design as compared to the prototype electronic package of the Company's earlier Symphony tCGM device. The Company also announced today that it expects to complete the product development work for the entire Symphony tCGM System in the near-term and that it anticipates entering new clinical trials shortly thereafter.

The completion of this electronic component package represents a major step towards custom integrated circuitry and product development completion. The Company believes that this accomplishment, coupled with the previously announced, improved, one-piece biosensor that utilizes new materials and an improved geometrical design, will improve sensor performance and significantly decrease the size of the tCGM device from the size of the original prototype. The final Symphony tCGM device is intended to be a cost-effective product that allows for advanced continuous glucose monitoring for patients and healthcare providers.

"The completion of this critical step in the product development program for Symphony demonstrates the Company's steadfast commitment to rapidly developing the world's most advanced solution for needle-free, continuous glucose monitoring technology," stated Patrick T. Mooney, M.D., Chairman and CEO of Echo Therapeutics. "The new electronics and device architecture replace our existing prototype with advanced, efficient and more effective components as compared to the electronic package used in the earlier device.  We believe that this technological improvement, combined with our new one-piece biosensor technology, will improve the accuracy of Symphony, while enhancing cost savings in manufacturing through our plans for future custom circuitry integration. Cumulatively, these improvements further strengthen our anticipated competitive position for Symphony in the glucose monitoring market, a $10 billion-plus annual market opportunity. We look forward to testing our commercially-ready Symphony tCGM System in a clinical trial in the near term, confirming the performance attributes we have observed in internal testing."