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News (Media Awareness Project) - CN ON: LifePoint Attempts To Make Its Impact
Title:CN ON: LifePoint Attempts To Make Its Impact
Published On:2002-04-03
Source:Los Angeles Times (CA)
Fetched On:2008-08-30 20:18:53
LIFEPOINT ATTEMPTS TO MAKE ITS IMPACT

CEO Hopes That Launch Of Alcohol- And Drug-Detection Device Will Push
Ontario Company To Profitability.

ONTARIO -- LifePoint Inc. is a start-up company with an exciting,
innovative product that could change the way drug tests are done.

But the company's management is a little bit like a proven baseball player
who's been traded to a new team. It has performed well elsewhere and, by
all accounts, has what it takes for the big leagues, but it just hasn't
gotten on base yet.

"You have a proven hitter. Management is excellent. We have all the right
ingredients," CEO Linda Masterson said. "But you're right. The question is:
Can this player -- with this team and this owner -- do it." "Doing it" for
LifePoint would be to land contracts, the kind that get big investors
excited and move the company closer to profitability. Nobody is more
confident that that will happen than Masterson, who's batted cleanup for
three other start-up companies, presiding over impressive increases in
revenue at each.

In February, LifePoint officially launched its long-awaited drug and
alcohol device called IMPACT, which tests saliva and provides drug levels
on computer readouts in less than five minutes. Police officers and others
with no medical expertise can use it with little or no training.

The device can test for the presence and quantity of alcohol, cocaine,
marijuana, amphetamines and opiates like heroin. The company plans on
adding tests for prescription drugs, which would help quickly identify
overdose cases.

"It was the first thing I ever saw where nontechnical people could do a
diagnosis," Masterson said. "It was the Holy Grail. It was not quite yet
the Tricorder like in Star Trek, but it was getting close."

The device, with 20 patents pending, was developed using technology from
the U.S. Navy, which used detection equipment for anthrax and other
chemical agents during the Gulf War, Masterson said. The Navy has a
licensing agreement with LifePoint that earns it 1 percent of sales on the
devices plus money on other equipment sold.

But so far, no major sales have been announced. Masterson said LifePoint
has "big potential contracts in the wings" and hopes to announce them soon.
The company expects to be profitable within two years, she said.

"I'd say the next six months would be realistic," she said.

She said if two or three of those potential contracts become a reality at
the same time, it could even tax LifePoint's ability to ramp up production
efficiently. That's one of the factors driving Masterson's plan for the
coming months, which includes developing means to increase the scale of
production.

"The next year and a half will be determined by revenues and our ability to
scale up and reduce cost on manufacturing processes," she said.

The company reported its first IMPACT revenue -- $22,910 during the fourth
quarter of 2001 -- and reported in March it had reached $250,000 in sales.
But LifePoint lost more than $11 million during 2001.

The Ontario Police Department hasn't bought the device but acknowledges the
great promise of the product. Department spokesman Det. Mike Macias said
Ontario will wait to learn from other departments about its effectiveness.
He said getting results on drug tests quickly would be welcome. Sometimes
it can take up to three months to get results from blood tests, and by that
time cases are dismissed.

"If the LifePoint product does what they say it will do and it survives
constitutional challenges in court, it will turn out to be a handy item,"
he said.

So the market appears ready for IMPACT. But LifePoint hasn't always been a
hit with investors. Listed on AMEX under LFP, the company closed at $3.87
on Tuesday. It's 52-week range is $1.90 and $5.39.

In November, the company stock closed at $2.15 from a 52-week high of more
than $6 when a design flaw that Masterson said has since been corrected
delayed the launch of IMPACT.

The stock dropped a month ago when LifePoint filed reports with the SEC
that Masterson, who has a salary of $185,000 a year, sold nearly 400,000
shares at $5.22 a share, totaling more than $2 million. She said the report
was a mistake by a clerk of a company lawyer.

In fact, she and other executives had not sold any shares but had
surrendered them to the company to pay prior loans made by LifePoint to
finance the exercise of stock options coming due.

After the stock transfer, Masterson became the target of critics on
Internet message boards. But despite the pressure and uncertainties of a
start-up, she said she relishes such work.

"It is very rewarding to see the results of your efforts," she said. "At a
large corporation, good people get lost among the bad. You can do a
lifetime of good work and not see the direct results of it."
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