LAKE FOREST, Ill., May 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Hospira, Inc. (pronounced Hos-PEER-ah) begins trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) today under the symbol “HSP” as one of the largest hospital products manufacturers in the United States. The global specialty pharmaceutical and medication delivery company, which was spun off from Abbott Laboratories, will be dedicated to Advancing Wellness(TM): a pledge to develop, manufacture and market products that help improve the safety and efficacy of patient care.
Hospira was formed to create a strong, independent company focused on serving the hospital industry. The company has a well-rounded portfolio of hospital products, most of which are market leaders in the United States. Led by Christopher B. Begley, chief executive officer and former president of Abbott’s Hospital Products Division, Hospira has 14,000 employees, 14 manufacturing sites worldwide and an estimated $2.5 billion in annual sales. David A. Jones, co-founder and chairman of Humana Inc., is Hospira’s chairman.
Hospira offers innovative hospital products that are integral to providing care at the patient bedside, including one of the industry’s broadest lines of generic acute-care injectables, integrated solutions for medication management and infusion therapy, and a full-service contract manufacturing business. The company’s specialty pharmaceutical products include generic injectables used in such areas as anesthesia, cardiovascular, infectious diseases and pain management. Hospira also manufactures medication delivery systems -- such as electronic infusion pumps, needle-free syringes and intravenous (I.V.) administration sets -- that provide patients with needed fluids and medications.
Customer relationships are at the heart of Hospira’s businesses and provide a strong base for future growth. Hospira has long-standing customer relationships that span the “continuum of care” -- hospitals, alternate site clinics, home healthcare providers and long-term care facilities.
“With our deep hospital relationships developed over a 70-year period, Hospira is perfectly positioned to unlock value for our customers and our shareholders,” Begley said. “As an established leader in the hospital market, we’re excited about our opportunities as an independent company to Advance Wellness for our hospital customers and patients.”
A Rich History, a Solid Outlook
Building on the company’s history of service to the hospital industry, Hospira will focus on helping its customers improve productivity and safety, reduce costs, and enhance patient care in today’s demanding healthcare environment. As an independent company, Hospira will have the strategic, operational and financial flexibility to support its customers’ specific needs. The company will operate from a solid financial platform with a positive outlook due, in part, to favorable market and demographic trends. The aging U.S. population also will increase the need for care in hospitals and is expected to drive demand for Hospira products -- the “staples” of the acute- care setting.
“The $9 billion U.S. market for our products and the larger global market, in which Hospira’s products already have a market presence, together provide us with growth potential that Hospira employees are eager to realize,” Begley said. “Our strategies to increase research and development investment, improve our profitability, and expand our global presence are designed to enable us to continue to anticipate and meet the growing needs of the global hospital market.”
“The hospital and health system industries will embrace a company like Hospira that is dedicated to the hospital customer and can offer new technologies and tools that will enable doctors, hospital pharmacists, and nurses to provide the safest and highest-quality care for their patients in a cost-effective manner,” said James C. McAllister III, M.S., F.A.S.H.P., director of pharmacy, University of North Carolina Hospitals and Clinics, Chapel Hill, N.C.
A Leader in Patient and Healthcare Worker Safety
Hospira’s leadership and commitment to customers extends to its pioneering efforts in providing safety innovations and delivering market-leading solutions in medication management, and patient and healthcare worker safety.
Hospira completed one of the largest bar coding efforts in the industry almost a year before the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) final rule on bar coding and three years before the FDA’s mandated implementation date. The bar code initiative encompassed more than 1,000 products and has the ability to help reduce medication errors and impact safety where it is most critical -- at the patient bedside. Medication errors are estimated to account for 7,000 deaths in the United States each year and an economic burden of approximately $77 billion annually. Hospira also is at the forefront of eliminating needles from its products to protect healthcare workers against needlestick injuries and blood exposure, resulting in improved workplace safety. Needlestick injuries cost the industry an estimated $1 billion a year in the United States.
Michael R. Cohen, president of the Institute for Safe Medication Practices, recognizes Hospira’s commitment to patient safety. “I’d like to congratulate Hospira on the new company and wish them a very successful future,” he said.
Begley will ring The Opening Bell(TM) at the NYSE today in honor of the initiation of Hospira trading under the ticker symbol “HSP.”
The Hospira Logo
The company also unveiled to the public its new purple and silver logo, which -- like the name Hospira -- is unique, differentiating and contemporary. The logo contains two complementary elements: the Hospira arc and type. The Hospira arc is abstract and can suggest several meanings, including a bridge providing a pathway to a new destination, a canopy offering protection or security, or even a rainbow, the universal symbol of hope. The arc highlights the word “spira” in the name, reinforcing Hospira’s aspiration to be the world’s leading hospital products provider, and highlighting the spirit and inspiration of the employees that guide the company. The design of the type, together with the arc, communicates the movement and advancement that are so critical to Hospira’s vision of Advancing Wellness.
About Hospira
Hospira, Inc. is a global specialty pharmaceutical and medication delivery company dedicated to Advancing Wellness(TM) by developing, manufacturing and marketing products that help improve the safety and efficacy of patient care. Created from the core global hospital products business of Abbott Laboratories, Hospira is a new company with 70 years of service to the hospital industry. The company’s portfolio includes one of the industry’s broadest lines of generic acute-care injectables, integrated solutions for medication management and infusion therapy, and a full-service contract manufacturing business. Headquartered in Lake Forest, Ill., north of Chicago, Hospira has more than 14,000 employees and 14 manufacturing facilities worldwide. Hospira’s news releases and other information about the company can be found at http://www.hospira.com/ .
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 -- A Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Statements
Some statements in this news release may be forward-looking statements for purposes of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Hospira cautions that these forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements. Economic, competitive, governmental, technological and other factors that may affect Hospira’s operations and may cause actual results to be materially different from expectations include the risk and uncertainties set forth in the information statement under the heading “Risk Factors” in the most recent version of the Form 10 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which are incorporated by reference. Hospira undertakes no obligation to release publicly any revisions to forward-looking statements as the result of subsequent events or developments.
The Opening Bell is a trademark of the New York Stock Exchange.
Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040503/HSPLOGOAP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.comHospira, Inc.
CONTACT: Media, Stacey Eisen, +1-224-212-2276, or Tareta Adams,+1-224-212-2535, or Financial, Lynn McHugh, +1-224-212-2363, all of Hospira,Inc.
Web site: http://www.hospira.com/
