This Month's Tiny Gems - January 2013

Charles & Colvard Ltd. (CTHR)

Charles & Colvard is the sole global producer of moissanite, an exceptionally pure gemstone comprised of the world’s second hardest substance, silicon carbide. Moissanite was originally discovered in Arizona’s Meteor Crater and is highly-prized for its scintillating brilliance (or the amount of light reflected from the “crown” to the eye, here being massive due to a refractive index in the 2.65 to 2.69 range), adamantine luster (diamond-like quantity/quality of reflected light from the surface), and fire (the tendency of the gem to split light into its spectrum of colors), all of which surpass that of the finest diamond.

Kips Bay Medical, Inc. (KIPS)

Kips Bay Medical was founded back in 2007 by a living legend of the medical industry with nearly four decades in medical device work under his belt, Manny Villafaña, guided by a clear vision to create breakthrough technologies for cardiac surgery. That vision is emerging today as this Minneapolis-headquartered company’s first major product nears commercialization, an ingenious nitinol (nickel/titanium composite) mesh sleeve designed to vastly improve the overall outcome and functionality of coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) procedures using typical autologous saphenous vein grafts (SVGs).

PURE Bioscience, Inc. (PURE)

PURE Bioscience is at the forefront of technology-based life sciences/bioscience product development for a variety of end markets, with safe, non-toxic, and yet extremely effective proprietary technologies engineered and marketed to address a whole range of global health problems, including resistant pathogens like MRSA, in addition to other bacterial, fungal, and viral agents (including Avian Influenza, H1N1, HIV, Norovirus, and Influenza A).