Wizzard Software Announces Canadian Patent Application Filing For Talking Pill Bottle
Wizzard Software Corp. (OTCBB: WIZD) announced today it has filed a patent application through its MedivoxRx Technologies, Inc. division with the Canadian Patent and Trademark Office. The application is titled "Pill, Capsule, or Medicine Container Audio Instruction Systems and Methods for Providing Audio Instructions with Pill, Capsule or Medicine Container."
PITTSBURGH, (PRWEB) September 23, 2004 -
Wizzard Software Corp. (OTCBB: WIZD) announced today it has filed a patent application through its MedivoxRx Technologies, Inc. division with the Canadian Patent and Trademark Office. The application is titled "Pill, Capsule, or Medicine Container Audio Instruction Systems and Methods for Providing Audio Instructions with Pill, Capsule or Medicine Container."
IMS Health's annual review of prescribing and diagnoses trends reveals 2003 was a record year in the growth of retail prescriptions filled by Canadians. There were over 361 million prescriptions filled in Canadian retail pharmacies in 2003 (excludes hospitals). Retail prescriptions grew 7.9% over 2002, the largest annual increase during the last decade. Last year's retail prescription market totaled $15.9 billion, which represents on average 11 prescriptions per Canadian at an average retail price of $44 per prescription.
It follows that Canadian physicians were just as busy in 2003 as their health care colleagues in pharmacy, especially those in family practice. There were 309 million visits made to office-based physicians last year and a family physician/general practitioner was seen in 73% of these visits. Of the more than 361 million retail prescriptions filled in Canadian retail pharmacies in 2003, 80% of all prescriptions (new prescriptions and refills) were written by family physicians. Family physicians comprise about half of the approximately 57,000 doctors in Canada.
Rex, the talking medication bottle, assists pharmacies in complying with stringent prescription medication regulations by having the dosage instructions and other critical information read "out-loud" to patients in addition to providing the instructions on the standard label. This audio assistance helps to ensure that a patient fully understands what the medication is, how often to take it and when to refill the prescription or discontinue its use. Canada is the world's seventh largest market in terms of pharmacy sales (purchases by retail pharmacies) at US$5.5 billion and it is the second fastest growing.
In addition to assisting pharmacies with their compliance initiatives, Rex helps meet the needs of an aging population as people lose their sight, cognitive functionality and physical abilities. Rex allows a patient to simply push a button on the bottle and hear their name, prescription type, dosage instructions, drug warnings and other information read in a clear, friendly voice.
About Wizzard Software...
Founded in 1996, Wizzard Software has become a leader in the speech technology application development market. Wizzard architects solutions to business problems using its expertise in consulting, speech development tools and building speech based applications for the Desktop and Internet. Wizzard has achieved global recognition because of its expertise with voice communication whether it is via PC or telephone. Wizzard's successes have lead to expanding opportunities in both the government and commercial sectors. In April of 2004, Wizzard acquired MedivoxRx Technologies. Founded in 2000, MedivoxRx is the originator of "Rex", the talking prescription pill bottle, which "talks" to the patient, allowing them to distinguish what type of medication is in the bottle and hear information on dosage and refill instructions. Additional information can be found at www. rxtalks. com. More information on Wizzard can be found in Wizzard's Investor's Corner www. wizzardsoftware. com.
Legal Notice...
Legal Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: "Forward-looking Statements" as defined in the Private Securities litigation Reform Act of 1995 may be included in this news release. These statements relate to future events or our future financial performance. These statements are only predictions and may differ materially from actual future results or events. We disclaim any intention or obligation to revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise. There are important risk factors that could cause actual results to differ from those contained in forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to risks associated with changes in general economic and business conditions, actions of our competitors, the extent to which we are able to develop new services and markets for our services, the time and expense involved in such development activities, the level of demand and market acceptance of our services, changes in our business strategies and acts of terror against the United States.
IR Contact:
Arthur Douglas and Associates
Art Batson
407/478-1120
Wizzard Contact:
Danielle Lewis
412/621-0902
Danielle@wizzardsoftware. com
PR Contacts:
KPR, Inc.
Barbara Evans or Dave Kaye
818/368-8212
Barbara@kprinc. com or dave@kprinc. com
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