Zila Acquires ViziLite™ – Oral Examination Device

12/5/2001 Phoenix PR Newswire Zila Professional Pharmaceuticals, a division of Zila, Inc. (Nasdaq: ZILA), announced the acquisition of world marketing rights (excluding the Pacific Rim) for the ViziLite(TM) chemiluminescent light technology, which is cleared by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) for marketing in the United States. Using the ViziLite Test Kit in combination with a conventional visual oral mucosal examination, healthcare providers can improve the identification, evaluation and monitoring of oral mucosal abnormalities in those at increased risk for oral cancer. The American Cancer Society publication "Cancer Facts & Figures 2001" advises that the risk factors for oral cancer are cigarette, cigar or pipe smoking; use of smokeless tobacco; and excessive consumption of alcohol. Some 25 percent of oral cancer occurs in people with no known risk factors. The transaction with Trylon Corporation of Torrance, California, involves up to 2,000,000 shares of restricted Zila common stock plus royalties (10 percent in the first five years, and 5 percent in the next five years) on ViziLite product sales. Trylon continues to market a similar technology, the PapSure(R) screening test, for cervical health. That technology received FDA clearance based on a 13,000-patient clinical study involving 55 sites. Subsequently, in November 2001, the FDA granted clearance for oral application of the ViziLite Test Kit based on evidence of substantial equivalence as demonstrated by testing at the University of California/San Francisco and the University of the Pacific. Dr. Ralph Green, Vice President and General Manager of Zila Professional Pharmaceuticals, noted, "Zila is [...]