FAIRFIELD, Conn., Oct. 29, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Competitive Technologies, Inc. (NYSE Amex:CTT) announced today that it received a silver CQIA Innovation Prize for its Calmare Therapy Treatment*, pain therapy medical device. The award was presented to John B. Nano, CTT's Chairman, President and CEO, by the Connecticut Quality Improvement Award Partnership, Inc. at its 22nd Annual Conference on Quality and Innovation held on October 23, 2009, in Westbrook, CT.
"We are honored that our innovative Calmare Therapy Treatment has been recognized by this prestigious group in our home state of Connecticut," said Mr. Nano. "With all the negative press about narcotic painkillers, it is incredibly rewarding to be able to provide this non-invasive, effective relief for intense pain. Being acknowledged by this organization helps us to reach a large audience of individuals suffering pain and in need of palliative care.
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"We have FDA 510(k) clearance and CE Medical Device approval for our Calmare Therapy Treatment and are starting to see accelerated global sales of the device. We are looking forward to working with more physicians and medical clinicians to provide relief to the millions worldwide who suffer from debilitating neuropathic pain."
U.S-based clinical studies are underway at several prestigious university medical centers, including the Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center, the University of Miami Pain Management Center, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison Carbone Cancer Center. In May 2009, clinical investigators at the Massey Cancer Center began an independent clinical study to examine the ability of CTT's Calmare Therapy Treatment to decrease pain associated with chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN), which can be difficult to treat with traditional methods. Early results from the Massey study are quite promising.
"Pain therapy treatment has become high priority at Europe's largest university, La Sapienza of Rome, as well," added Mr. Nano. "La Sapienza, together with the Fondazione Parco Biomedico San Raffaele of Rome, has established a new medical school dedicated to the treatment of pain. Our Calmare Therapy Treatment will be a major component of the new medical school's program. La Sapienza, founded in 1303, is the largest university in Europe with over 145,000 students, including three other medical schools with 7,000 beds."
"Our Calmare Therapy Treatment completely avoids the harmful, potentially fatal, adverse side effects and addictive properties linked to narcotic painkillers," said Aris Despo, CTT's Executive VP, Business Development. "The CDC's National Center for Health Statistics reported last month that the number of fatal poisonings involving opioid analgesics more than tripled from 1999 to 2006, largely due to the increased use of these powerful narcotic painkillers. In that same period, deaths from opioid poisoning overtook traffic fatalities as the largest cause of injury-related deaths in 16 states, including our home state of Connecticut. One opioid analgesic, hydrocodone, topped the AARP Bulletin's "50 Most Prescribed Drugs" list, with over 121 million prescriptions written in 2008, nearly double the number of prescriptions for the next drug on the list. There are no such risks with our Calmare Therapy Treatment."
CTT has exclusive worldwide rights to the Calmare Therapy Treatment device, which was developed in Italy by CTT's client, Prof. Giuseppe Marineo. The Calmare Therapy Treatment has been used to treat more than 3,000 patients in Europe and the US. CTT partner GEOMC Co., Ltd. of Korea, is producing the device commercially for worldwide distribution. For more information about the device, visit www.CalmareTT.com.
About The Connecticut Quality Improvement Partnership, Inc.
The Connecticut Quality Improvement Partnership, Inc., founded in 1987, is America's first state-level quality award using the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award for Performance Excellence Criteria in an effort to advance innovative programs that improve quality, performance, and marketplace competitiveness in Connecticut organizations. For more information, visit the CQIA website: www.ctqualityaward.org/.
About Competitive Technologies, Inc.
Competitive Technologies, established in 1968, provides distribution, patent and technology transfer, sales and licensing services focused on the needs of its customers and matching those requirements with commercially viable product or technology solutions. CTT is a global leader in identifying, developing and commercializing innovative products and technologies in life, electronic, nano, and physical sciences developed by universities, companies and inventors. CTT maximizes the value of intellectual assets for the benefit of its customers, clients and shareholders. Visit CTT's website: www.competitivetech.net.
Statements made about our future expectations are forward-looking statements and subject to risks and uncertainties as described in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended July 31, 2009, filed with the SEC on October 27, 2009, and other filings with the SEC, and are subject to change at any time. Our actual results could differ materially from these forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statement.
* The Calmare Therapy Treatment uses Competitive Technologies' MC-5A pain therapy medical device to provide rapid treatment of high-intensity oncologic and neuropathic pain, including pain resistant to morphine and other narcotic painkillers.
