CARDINAL HEALTH, PATIENT SAFETY TECHNOLOGIES ENTER INTO EXCLUSIVE DISTRIBUTION AGREEMENT FOR SURGICOUNT™ SURGICAL SAFETY PRODUCTS
Exhibit
99.1
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
|
|
Cardinal
Health:
|
Patient
Safety Technologies:
|
Xxxx
Xxxxxxxxxxx (Media)
|
Xxxxxx
Xxxx
|
(000)
000-0000
|
(000)
000-0000
|
xxxx.xxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx
|
xxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx
|
Xxxxx
Xxxxxx (Investors)
|
|
(000)
000-0000
|
|
xxxxx.xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx
|
DISTRIBUTION
AGREEMENT FOR SURGICOUNT™ SURGICAL
SAFETY PRODUCTS
Five-year
agreement for barcode technology to prevent retained objects during
surgery
DUBLIN, Ohio and TEMECULA, Calif.,
Nov. 20, 2009 — Cardinal Health and Patient Safety Technologies today
announced that they have entered into a five-year exclusive distribution
agreement to co-market the SurgiCount Safety-Sponge™ System,
which helps prevent retention of sponges and towels unintentionally left in
patients during surgical procedures.
The new
agreement builds upon a relationship that began in 2006 when Cardinal Health
became the exclusive distribution partner for the SurgiCount Safety-Sponge
System, a complete and comprehensive sponge counting and documentation system
designed to dramatically increase the accuracy of sponge counts performed in
hospitals. Cardinal Health will continue to package SurgiCount’s lap sponges,
gauze sponges and operating room towels in its market-leading Presource® kits
and trays.
In
addition, Cardinal Health has issued a $10 million purchase order for SurgiCount
products, calling for deliveries over the next 12-month period. As part of the
purchase order, Patient Safety Technologies has issued Cardinal Health warrants
to purchase 1,250,000 shares of Patient Safety Technologies common stock (OTC
Bulletin Board: PSTX) at $2 per share and 625,000 shares of its common stock at
$4 per share.
“Cardinal
Health and XxxxxXxxxx Medical have created a strong relationship over the past
three years with a mutual goal to improve safety in the operating room,” said
Xxxxx Xxxxxxx, president of Cardinal Health’s Clinical and Procedural
businesses. “Our enhanced partnership solidifies the Safety-Sponge System as
Cardinal Health’s preferred technology to help our customers protect their
patients from retained foreign objects during surgeries.”
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Cardinal
Health and Patient Safety Technologies News
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To date,
Patient Safety Technologies and Cardinal Health have shipped more than 20
million SurgiCount Safety-Sponges that have been used in more than 700,000
procedures without a single undetected retained event.
“We are
delighted to extend our relationship with Cardinal Health,” said Xxxxxx X. Xxxx,
president and chief executive officer of Patient Safety Technologies. “This
expanded co-marketing relationship will enable us to accelerate the rate of
market adoption of our Safety-Sponge System and advance our goal of becoming the
clinical standard of care in the hospital marketplace.”
The
Safety-Sponge System is a complete and comprehensive sponge counting and
documentation system designed to dramatically increase the accuracy of sponge
counts performed in hospitals. SurgiCount labels each sponge with a unique
serial number embedded in a data matrix bar code. A SurgiCounter is then used to
scan and record the bar codes during the initial and final counts. Because each
sponge is identified with a unique code, the SurgiCounter will not allow the
same sponge to be counted more than once, leaving the user with a far more
accurate and valid sponge count.
About
Cardinal Health
Headquartered
in Dublin, Ohio, Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE: CAH) is a Fortune 18 health care
services company that improves the cost-effectiveness of health care. As the
business behind health care, Cardinal Health helps pharmacies, hospitals and
ambulatory care sites focus on patient care while reducing costs, improving
efficiency and quality, and increasing profitability. As one of the largest
health care companies in the world, Cardinal Health is an essential link in the
health care supply chain, providing pharmaceuticals and medical products to more
than 40,000 locations each day. The company is also a leading manufacturer of
medical and surgical products, including gloves, surgical apparel and fluid
management products. In addition, the company supports the growing diagnostic
industry by supplying medical products to clinical laboratories and operating
the nation’s largest network of radiopharmacies that dispense products to aid in
the early diagnosis and treatment of disease. Cardinal Health employs more than
30,000 people worldwide. More information about the company may be found at
xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.
About
Patient Safety Technologies
Patient
Safety Technologies, Inc. (OTC: PSTX), through its wholly owned operating
subsidiary SurgiCount Medical, Inc., provides the Safety-Sponge™ System,
a system designed to improve the standard of patient care and reduce health care
costs by preventing the occurrence of surgical sponges and other retained
foreign objects (RFOs) from being left inside patients after surgery. RFOs are
among one of the most common surgical errors. For more information, contact
SurgiCount at (000) 000-0000, or visit xxx.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.
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