the agm

Hi all PLTers,

As promised, here's my interpretation of what was said at the AGM, based on notes, memory, impressions etc. Also, I was assuming that the AGM presentations would be published as an ASX release (possibly tomorrow), so I didn't write some details down that I would have otherwise (I'll try to use memory to fill in the blanks).

A big disclaimer before I start, as the meaty part of the information came thick and fast, and whilst I did my best to keep track of the big items it was not easy, there might be some mistakes and some bits I missed (hopefully not many). What disclaimer would be complete without me warning everyone reading this that some of it is in IMO and DYOR etc. etc. etc. (lol)

I'll just dump the information in the order that I noted it, which should be roughly in the order it occurred / was discussed ...

- Neville Hacker (directory) was one of 4 finalists for Australian of the Year
(note: I researched this, and he is one of 4 NSW finalists ... see http://www.australianoftheyear.gov.au/pages/page352.asp)

- 3 minute DVD was played showing glimpses of their offices, the new factory, the 4 main products, staff, innovation awards, press releases, signing the China deal, their various achievements during the year, etc. etc. etc. ... (all feel-good stuff, nice contemporary classical guitar background to set the mood)

- next was the voting, and it was recommended that it be raced through, as most shareholders wanted to hear the addresses, and the Q & A sessions for PLT AGMs were typically quite long (although I would have liked today's to be longer). As per the ASX release, all motions were passed.

- Remuneration: it was pointed out that there were no increases for the last couple of years for the board or CEO, & CEO was effectively doing the work of two positions, given that there was no longer a deputy CEO (which used to come with a $150K salary, no longer being paid)

- the $4M placement was to get institutional investors coming onto the register. 4 to 6 institutionals were coming onboard for the first time in PLT's history, some of the largest, most well known

- prior to the end of last year, in the previous 4 to 5 years PLT was struggling to raise money. Then at the end of last year there was suddenly huge interest, to the point where they had to give $4M to $5M back, above the 15% allowance above the (AGM) approved Pre-IPO Convertible Notes allocation

- PLT's constitution has remained unchanged for a very long time, and is now out of step with ASX regulations & standards. They will be doing further work on devising changes in the coming year to bring it into line

- there are approx 4,300 shareholders, many with unmarketable parcels ... approx 1000-2000 shareholders. It costs a lot of money per shareholder for registry costs (one shareholder suggested a figure of $100 per holder, but that seems a bit too large!), therefore the change to try to resolve these types of small holders.
(*** this part was the only part of the voting with any issues ***)
- one investor (I think it was one who had been an investor for 21 years!) requested an amendment to the wording, whereby these investors with unmarketable parcels be contacted, and given the option of selling, not being forced to sell. His reasoning was that many had bought in at over $6 (e.g. 25K) would now have a holding of > $2K at the current price, and it was not showing loyalty to those long-term holders.
- a counter argument was that a huge amount of money was being wasted on these types of investors, and if not wanting to have their holdings sold they could just do a relatively small top-up, otherwise they have probably lost interest in the company and best to clear the decks
- someone else questioned whether it was actually legal to force holders to sell, to which it was pointed out that this was in line with ASX recommendations
- etc. etc. ... in the end, it took to long, so the vote was held and it passed without problems(!)

- with votes concluded, another DVD was played regarding Cerviscreen, showing the sampling device, packaging, etc. etc. plus various info points
>>>
- a couple of months until launch
- revenue expected in 1st Q '08
- device designed by women for women
- interest never so high, right time to market
- self-screening on the way to becoming the norm
- simple to use, reassuring
- opportunities around the world are vast
<<<

The addresses where mainly done by the chairman:

(some of this is from slides, some discussed)

- CerviScreen is a little ahead of the market, nothing like it in the consumer space

- 45 ASX announcements in the year ... near to an ASX record

- 2 years previously with no ASX announcements other than the usual financial and annual reports

- 2 reports valuing PLT at 91c-$1.14, neither taking CerviScreen into account; they consider CerviScreen to be just as big as TruScreen for the future

- haven't spent much money on CerviScreen yet

- PLT the best performing (biotech) this year, and was the worst performing 5 years ago

- more TruScreen has been sold this quarter than in the company's history

- disappointing SP, in mid-40's vs. 50s-60s; expect a re-rating once CerviScreen is released

TruScreen
=========
- Truscreen still the flagship product ... 2 years ago it was considered 'on the shelf, dead' (youch! ... I'm really glad I didn't know that 2 years ago!!!)

- 17 in-country distribution agreements & targeting South America & Eastern Europe

- UK - it takes 8 to 10 weeks for pap results, in Ireland they don't have any labs any more, they send them off to US for testing (I think that's what was said ... it sounds pretty amazing, it was something like that)

- obtained approvals in Malaysia, India & Turkey; pending in South Korea & Taiwan

- SUS manufacture now 1/10 the cost of the original prototypes from 2 years ago

- China approval: FDA was completely revamped, effectively all employees were purged when the head of it was caught for corrupt practices (he was tried and executed). All approvals needed to start completely from scratch. TruScreen approval lost 6 months as a result

- product already selling in China. There is a lot of activity over there, with a lot of training (etc. etc. etc.). Back-orders for China of $1M, to be cleared before or around X-Mas / New Year. Expect $15-$16M in China sales in the next year

MediScan
========
- mainly UK
- PLT are supporting it, but it is kind of self-supporting, in that it doesn't really cost anything to support
- will never be a world-beater, not much focus on it

SolarScan
=========
- used to cost more to make than could be sold for
- hard to sell
- PLT are supporting it
- will never be a world-beater, not much focus on it

CerviScreen
===========

- expect on market, generating sales by 1st Qtr '08

- addresses and therefore removes the 3 main barriers to screening:
... (P) Private
... (A) Accurate
... (P) Painless
(which just happens to spell 'PAP' ... don't you love marketing)

- offers 95% accuracy vs. 65% for Pap

- HPV testing is expected to replace Pap in the western world, and COULD lead to TOTAL replacement of Pap

- up to 90% (of the 40% of women) who don't screen are willing to submit a self sample

- this market (40%) is completely untapped

- trials:
.. results are currently being written up
.. completed in December (mid to late)

- apply for TGA & CE certification once trail results are complete. Takes approx. 2 to 3 months after that

- trial launch early '08

- currently doing the final fine-tuning of marketing plans

- product and technology is well backed by top professionals in the field

- expect to be mover of first advantage in consumer world of HPV sampling

- there's a 'mad race' with labs, medical companies around the world trying to develop HPV tests

- CerviScreen collection device designed and made in-house, very advanced in its own right. Whilst not giving many details for obvious reasons, an international company is in talks with PLT re worldwide use of this device for (DNA /swap / ... I'm not exactly sure!) capture. It is apparently that unique and far advanced on existing swab technologies

- how big CerviScreen goes depends on the level of freedom allowed by regulatory bodies re. marketing as replacement to Pap ... if so, the sky's the limit

Other
=====

- PLT (I think it was Robert Hunter and Ben Dillon) did 30 to 40, maybe 50 broker presentations in the year

- shelved the AIM listing, as it was obviously easy enough to raise money in Australia

- did a quality control evaluation on products and processes, and all came up trumps

Q & A session
=============

- patents: what protection is there outside of the western world?
.. TruScreen is well covered by patents
.. TruScreen: the nature of the product makes it hard to replicate; care was taken to ensure that the various components are not done in one place; no one else knows the full components/process to putting it together
.. CerviScreen: not a long life on patents
...... more a matter of it getting into the market quickly

- talking to another party with similar yet different, complementary test to CerviScreen, to see if possible for incorporation into an improved test (or something like that!)

- CerviScreen: direct to market and clinics / GPs. Many GPs don't want to do Pap; this test could be done by patient in their clinics (in corner, behind screen, in the bathrooms, etc.) just like regular specimen collections that GPs get patients to provide, as part of the visit

- the plan is that CerviScreen will also be sold in pharmacies

- some discussions with a global player (bigger/larger than Johnson & Johnson) to distribute CerviScreen

- CerviScreen: plan to be the lowest cost producer of a mass market product

- HPV vaccine: protects against 70% of HPV, but only 2 of 15 high risk strains (I think that's what was said!)

- as the vaccine is used, it will lower the risk of HPV infection, so Pap becomes less effective and so HPV DNA testing sensitivity becomes more important

- CerviScreen will be more viable in the western world than TruScreen

- HPV vaccine has put HPV on the map, great awareness now, so builds the market for CerviScreen

- when women get the vaccine, they are told to do follow-up checks regularly, every 2 years (for Pap; CerviScreen is only required every 5 years)

- HPV screening gets false positives; Pap gets false negatives; it's thought that the way to go is to use HPV screening, then if there's a positive then do a follow-up check with Pap

- Medicare cover for Pap costs the government about $60 all up (including GP); the cost of CerviScreen will be $50 to $60

.............................................

So, I hope most of that makes sense. It's late (too late to do a good proof-read), there was a lot of it, and that was either what I read, heard or interpreted. Some may be incorrect, don't take my word for it!

The purpose of the above was to give you all a feel for what went on today, and to serve as a reminder for myself!

Cheers all.