The Shell Game for Shills: CTTC Has a New CEO

The Shell Game

Good morning, Dear Readers.

Without the least bit of a gloat and nary a reminder of the soul-sucking, money-stealing, totally bogus health claims made by CALMARE/Scrambler Therapy adherents, the "technology" that has kept CTTC (Competitive Technologies, Inc.) in the top spot of my list of CRPS Scams, I come before you with a heavy heart to announce that the robust company stock is for sale today at a steamy rate of .0553 -- that's per share, not the discounted price for the whole snake oil business, you chuckleheads!

As you know, I keep one ear to the ground -- not by choice, of course; it's more adherence to gravity -- and the word is that tomorrow is BOGO Day for CTTC.

On a more serious note, Competitive Technologies, "patent" capitalists, has come up with another filing to submit to the SEC.  I knew they'd get the hang of notifying the SEC of every smarmy, desperate move one day, after all that time of being unable to throw together something as simple as an earnings report equipped with super-glued pasties spinning the rip-off of people in severe and constant pain.  Just as they circle the drain, they master the art of big business!

It has to do with some staffing issues.  Here's the press release version of it:

FAIRFIELD, CT--(Marketwired - Oct 4, 2013) - The Board of Directors of Competitive Technologies, Inc., (OTCQX: CTTC) (CTI), today announced the appointment of Conrad F. Mir as President and chief executive officer, with full responsibility for running the corporation, and as a member of the Board of Directors. Mr. Mir will also serve as interim chief financial officer while the Board of Directors commences a search process to identify a suitable candidate to fill the role on a permanent basis. 

"With Mr. Mir's expertise in the micro-cap biotechnology space, along with his experience turning around distressed biotech companies, CTI has the right leadership in place to execute its corporate reengineering plan and enhance long-term shareholder value," said Peter Brennan, chairman of the Board of Directors of CTI. 

Mr. Mir has been mandated to implement a corporate reengineering plan (Plan), which he designed and presented to the Board of Directors. The Plan reengineers CTI's core business, cuts expenses, develops the wound care and bone technologies, and furthers our flagship Calmare© platform. 

The Board of Directors also announced the acceptance of Carl O'Connell's resignation as CEO. Mr. O'Connell has chosen to pursue other business opportunities, but will remain on the Board of Directors to provide continuity and ensure the Plan's success. He has agreed to serve as a special advisor to CTI in various medical technology capacities, including the ongoing development of Calmare. 

"Carl has a wealth of knowledge in the medical device field and will continue to be an instrumental part of the CTI team through his direction and guidance in the board room," added Mr. Brennan. 

In addition, CTI will not extend its consulting agreement with Johnnie Johnson, chief financial officer and consultant to CTI. The company is indebted to his hard work and wishes him success in future endeavors. 

About Mr. Mir
Mr. Mir has over twenty years of investment banking, financial structuring, and corporate reengineering experience. He has served in various executive management roles and on the Board of Directors of several companies in the biotechnology industry. Most recently, Mr. Mir was CFO of Pressure BioSciences, Inc., a sample preparation company advancing its proprietary pressure cycling technology. Before that, he was chairman and CEO of Genetic Immunity, Inc., a plasmid, DNA company in the HIV space, and was the executive director of Advaxis, Inc., a vaccine company. Over the last five years, he was responsible for raising more than $40 million in growth capital and broadening corporate reach to new investors and current shareholders. 

Conrad has worked for several investment banks including Sanford C. Bernstein, First Liberty Investment Group, and Nomura Securities International. He holds a BS/BA in Economics and English with special concentrations in Mathematics and Physics from New York University. He is a classically trained pianist and teacher, and a student of the martial arts. He is married with two children, alumni council chairman of Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity - Tau Alpha chapter (NYU), and a member of NIRI. 

About the Company
Competitive Technologies Inc., (CTI) is a biotechnology company developing and commercializing innovative products and technologies. CTI is the licensed distributor of the non-invasive Calmare® pain therapy medical device, which incorporates the biophysical "Scrambler Therapy"® technology developed to treat neuropathic and cancer-derived pain by Professor Giuseppe Marineo.

[I eliminated the "Forward-Looking Statements" pro forma paragraph because of the dangers it imposed on readers -- a possible choking hazard, a means to the inadvertent snort of hot coffee into sinus cavities, etc.]

The Calmare device is currently being manufactured for sale by GEOMC Co., Ltd. of Seoul, South Korea.
Scrambler Therapy®: www.scramblertherapy.org/english.htm
Calmare®: www.calmarett.com
CTI: www.competitivetech.net 

Contact:Competitive Technologies, Inc.
Conrad Mir
President and CEOEmail Contact
973.798.8882 

JV Public Relations
Janet Vasquez
Managing DirectorEmail Contact
212.645.5498

Feeling duly diligent, I looked into the health of the boat from which Conrad Mir debarked. Pressure BioSciences, Inc and its 12 employees can boast a net profit margin for this year's second quarter of -297.99% , quite the decline from the -278.64% deficit for all of 2012.  They did post an improvement in operating margin, tightening that figure to a satisfying -239.84%.  Remember that old adage:   "If your business sustains a negative operating margin for too long, you might need additional funding"!

Oh, and if you are a neophyte investor, like me, you might want to heed Investipedia's advice about profit margins:

• This ratio is not useful for companies losing money, since they have no profit.
• A low profit margin can indicate pricing strategy and/or the impact competition has on margins.

Now, I have to say that Pressure BioSciences, Inc has much more interesting language in its "Forward Looking Statements" section than does poor Competitive Technologies, Inc.  For instance:

Further, given the uncertainty in the capital markets and the current status of the Company’s product development and commercialization activities, there can be no assurance that the Company will secure the additional capital necessary to fund its operations beyond September 2013 on acceptable terms, if at all. 

Not to sully the fine name of Yankee's pitcher Mariano Rivera, I am wondering if we might not hang the moniker of "The Closer" on Mr. Mir. Given that his tenure with Pressure BioSciences began in December 2012 and ended with such a huge leap up the rungs of corporate laddership in September 2013, we might even extend that nickname to another favored by that awesome relief pitcher:  "The Sandman."

Oops!  And "oops" is never a good omen!  I incorrectly calculated the time Mr. Mir spent leading Pressure Biosciences.  He managed to serve as CEO of another biotech endeavor, Genetic Immunity, Inc, in his free time before landing at CTTC.  Genetic Immunity, Inc is a subsidiary of Power of the Dream Ventures, Inc. [O Lord, take me now!] Power of the Dream Ventures, Inc is trading today at a whopping four cents.

Power of the Dream Ventures, Inc., (PDV), incorporated on August 17, 2006, is a holding company focused on technology acquisition and development enabling the delivery of concepts and ready to market products to the international market place. The Company develops, acquire, license or co-develop technologies that originates exclusively in Hungary... As of December 31, 2011, the Company had only realized limited revenues from its discontinued TothTelescope project and had not realized any revenues from other inventions.

The keenest review I could find for the TothTelescope was on a forum for telescope enthusiasts.  Rick said:
"I would be *HIGHLY* (I can't emphasize "HIGHLY" enough) suspect of this scope... The comments I have seen on Astromart and Yahoo BinocularAstronomy about this product echo this....someone even thought the website was meant to be a joke. I'm afraid it is meant to be a scam."

A joke.
A scam.
My, but the world is round, and the bean shuffled seamlessly from one shell to another, confounding even the most keen-eyed players of the game.

At least, in Mr. Mir's past, the sham toys don't seem to be aimed at desperate people living lives of declining quality, full of intense and unrelenting pain.  The pain to which he has limited himself -- until now -- appears to have been the familiar marketplace woe of separating a person from his or her money.

In keeping with my consistent attitude of respect for CTTC and their pseudoscientific, testimonial approach to business, tempered with the ardent compassion of a mature Marquis de Sade, I bid adieu to Carl O'Connell.  He's been the subject of much awe, proving worried parents of college students wrong by audaciously turning a degree in psychology into the fodder needed for growing companies in the related fields of "Neurosurgery, Ophthalmology, Orthopedics-Spine, ENT and Dentistry." You've got to figure Carl will land on his feet.








© 2013 L. Ryan