December 12, 2006
I wish to make the following comments regarding the above filing by NASDAQ.
Avigen believes that NASDAQs association with PrimeZone will enhance competition in the market which is better for our company and its investors and should lead to improved offerings from other wire services.
We believe that other wire services have a higher cost structure due to their ability to offer a higher level of services which we do not need. We therefore value a cost structure that better reflects the value to put on the services subscribed to.
We will continue to evalute the effectiveness of services provided by NASDAQs product, and will independently decide whether to purchase additional press release distribution and Edgar-filing services from NASDAQ based on our satisfaction.
To the extent that NASDAQ becomes a meaningful competitor to the existing providers, we will benefit from enhanced competition for their business.