SAN CLEMENTE, CA / ACCESSWIRE / April 18, 2019 / ReShape Lifesciences Inc. (OTCQB: RSLS), a developer of minimally invasive medical devices to treat obesity and metabolic diseases, today announced that as of April 1, 2019, the company is selling its LAP-BAND product in the Australian market through a relationship with Satori Healthcare. Satori Healthcare is a medical device distributor focused on the Australian bariatric market. The founder of Satori Healthcare has over 20 years of experience in the medical device industry, including 6 years of direct responsibility for LAP-BAND while it was owned by Allergan and Apollo Endosurgery respectively. Concurrent with this relationship, ReShape Lifesciences has fully taken over all distribution of the LAP-BAND in Australia from Apollo Endosurgery, Inc. and will subsequently be recognizing revenue from sales of the product in Australia.
Over 120,000 LAP-BAND procedures have taken place in Australia since the product was launched in the country, making Australia one of the largest worldwide markets for LAP-BAND outside of the U.S. Australia was one of the early adopters of the LAP-BAND technology and has produced some of the strongest data and research on the product. According to the OECD 2017 Obesity Update, which is based on self-reported data, 27.9% of the Australian adult population are obese, which is the fifth highest obesity rate of any developed country worldwide.
About ReShape Lifesciences Inc.
ReShape Lifesciences is a medical device company focused on technologies to treat obesity and metabolic diseases. The FDA-approved LAP-BAND Adjustable Gastric Banding System is designed to provide minimally invasive long-term treatment of severe obesity and is an alternative to more invasive surgical stapling procedures such as the gastric bypass or sleeve gastrectomy. The ReShape Vest System is an investigational, minimally invasive, laparoscopically implanted medical device that wraps around the stomach, emulating the gastric volume reduction effect of conventional weight-loss surgery, and is intended to enable rapid weight loss in obese and morbidly obese patients without permanently changing patient anatomy.
Forward-Looking Safe Harbor Statement:
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of words such as "expect," "plan," "anticipate," "could," "may," "intend," "will," "continue," "future," other words of similar meaning and the use of future dates. These forward-looking statements are based on the current expectations of our management and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, among others: risks and uncertainties related to our acquisition of the Lap-Band system, including the risk of default under our security agreement with Apollo Endosurgery entered into in connection with the transaction; the risk of default under our secured subordinated convertible debentures due June 28, 2019 that we issued in March 2019; our ability to continue as a going concern if we are unable to improve our operating results or obtain additional financing; risks related to ownership of our securities as a result of our delisting from the Nasdaq Capital Market; our proposed ReShape Vest product may not be successfully developed and commercialized; our limited history of operations; our losses since inception and for the foreseeable future; our limited commercial sales experience; the competitive industry in which we operate; our dependence on third parties to initiate and perform our clinical trials; the need to obtain regulatory approval for our ReShape Vest and any modifications to our vBloc system and LAP-BAND system; physician adoption of our products; our ability to obtain third party coding, coverage or payment levels; ongoing regulatory compliance; our dependence on third party manufacturers and suppliers; the successful development of our sales and marketing capabilities; our ability to raise additional capital when needed; international commercialization and operation; our ability to attract and retain management and other personnel and to manage our growth effectively; potential product liability claims; the cost and management time of operating a public company; potential healthcare fraud and abuse claims; healthcare legislative reform; and our ability to obtain and maintain intellectual property protection for our technology and products. These and additional risks and uncertainties are described more fully in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, particularly those factors identified as "risk factors" in our annual report on Form 10-K filed April 2, 2018 and subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. We are providing this information as of the date of this press release and do not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this document as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
Investor Contact:
Scott Youngstrom
Chief Financial Officer
ReShape Lifesciences Inc.
949-429-6680 x106
syoungstrom@reshapelifesci.com
or
Debbie Kaster
Investor Relations
Gilmartin Group
415-937-5403
debbie@gilmartinir.com
SOURCE: ReShape Lifesciences Inc.
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