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A friend in needle,,, from todays australian by micheal west----

TO the Frank Sources form guide for needles and syringes. There are a remarkable seven syringe stocks listed on the market, with a combined market capitalisation of $240 million, plus a mere $30 million cash between them.

This is a bit like the gold sector, Sources reckons, with bullion at $US260 an ounce. In need of rationalisation that is.

Frank's two favourites are Occupational & Medical Innovations (OMI) for its product development and the smaller bioMD (BOD) for low cash burn and a simple but compelling product story. To the form:

OMI -- listed two years. Good partners on products under distribution agreements but beset by a boardroom battle (market cap $39m).

bioMD -- eight months listed. Product (safety needle) with two global manufacturers for testing (market cap $12m).

Unitract -- trying to raise $16 million now. Two years listed. Done deal in China. High cash burn (market cap $109m).

RiTract -- 12 months listed. Reasonable products. Deal done in China. Cash okay ($27m).

Eastland Medical Systems -- listed two years. Done a deal in China though not much sign of original product as EMS has already expanded elsewhere ($35m).

Medigard -- listed nine months. Only one announcement on product since listing ($11.5m).

Analytica -- recent backdoor listing (market cap $10.9 million).

Why so many syringe stocks? We hear about the little kid treading on a needle down at the beach but we don't hear much about needlestick in hospitals. It's a worldwide problem and a decent safety solution would be worth heaps.

There is a lot of hype in this sector, not to mention the odd boardroom brawl, but no return to shareholders yet.