MENTOR, Ohio, and ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md., March 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- STERIS Corporation and the United States Army’s Edgewood Chemical Biological Center (ECBC) today announced the first demonstration of a fumigation technology effective at inactivating both chemical and biological agents. This research, utilizing STERIS’s modified vapor-phased VHP(R)/Vaprox(R) technology, represents a significant breakthrough in decontamination technology and methods.
The research and development effort was conducted jointly by the U.S. Army Edgewood Chemical Biological Center (ECBC) and STERIS Corporation’s subsidiary, Strategic Technology Enterprises, Inc., as part of an ongoing cooperative research and development agreement that was initiated in July 2002 to evaluate, optimize, and modify STERIS technologies for use against chemical and biological warfare agents.
The STERIS VHP/Vaprox technology utilized in this research provides a low- temperature, dry decontamination process that has been proven highly effective against a range of pathogenic organisms and bacterial spores. Under the cooperative research agreement, ECBC modified the VHP/Vaprox technology to make it effective against chemical agents as well as biological substances. The VHP/Vaprox technology has no environmentally harmful residue, is compatible with many materials, equipment, and environments that require decontamination, and may reduce the risk of personnel exposure to contaminated environments and items.
“Our working relationship with companies like STERIS serves as a perfect example of how government-industry partnerships can speed chemical and biological defense research and the commercialization process,” said Jim Zarzycki, ECBC Technical Director.
“Companies like STERIS offer unique expertise, technologies, and services that are proven effective and can be adapted for use by governmental agencies and other industries,” added Jeff Hinte, ECBC’s Director of Advanced Planning and Initiatives. “The government is eager to work with companies like STERIS to enhance the nation’s preparedness to deal with the variety of challenges we face today.”
Commenting on the research, Les C. Vinney, STERIS’s President and Chief Executive Officer, said, “We are proud to be collaborating with ECBC on this important endeavor. We believe this work will result in the commercialization of decontamination systems that will be used for broad military and homeland defense applications; in fact, a variation of the system was recently used to safely and successfully decontaminate two government buildings in excess of 1.4 million cubic feet each that were contaminated in the October 2001 anthrax attacks. We can also foresee potential additional markets in other industrial and consumer applications. We look forward to continuing the breakthrough research with ECBC while developing additional applications for our technologies.”
About Edgewood Chemical Biological Center
The Edgewood Chemical Biological Center is the U.S. Army’s principal research and development center for non-medical chemical and biological defense technology, engineering and services. ECBC has achieved major technological advances for national defense, civilian needs and industrial competitiveness, with a long and distinguished history of providing the Armed Forces with quality systems and outstanding customer service. ECBC is located at the Edgewood Area of Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md. For more information about the Edgewood Chemical Biological Center, please visit our Web site at http://www.ecbc.army.mil/ or call (410) 436-3610.
About STERIS
The mission of STERIS Corporation is to provide a healthier today and safer tomorrow through knowledgeable people and innovative infection prevention, decontamination, and health science technologies, products, and services. Additional information about STERIS can be found on the Company’s Website at http://www.steris.com/ .
This news release may contain statements concerning certain trends, expectations, forecasts, estimates, or other forward-looking information affecting or relating to the Company or its industry that are intended to qualify for the protections afforded “forward-looking statements” under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and other laws and regulations. Forward-looking statements speak only as to the date of this report, and may be identified by the use of forward-looking terms such as “may,” “will,” “expects,” “believes,” “anticipates,” “plans,” “estimates,” “projects,” “targets,” “forecasts,” and “seeks,” or the negative of such terms or other variations on such terms or comparable terminology. Many important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements including, without limitation, disruption of production or supplies, changes in market conditions, political events, pending or future claims or litigation, competitive factors, technology advances, and changes in government regulations or the application or interpretation thereof. Other risk factors are described in the Company’s Form 10-K and other securities filings. Many of these important factors are outside STERIS’s control. No assurances can be provided as to any future financial results. Unless legally required, the Company does not undertake to update or revise any forward-looking statements even if events make clear that any projected results, express or implied, will not be realized. Other potential risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include, without limitation, (a) the potential for increased pressure on pricing that leads to erosion of profit margins, (b) the possibility that market demand will not develop for new technologies, products or applications, or the Company’s business initiatives will take longer, cost more or produce lower benefits than anticipated, (c) the possibility that compliance with laws, court rulings, regulations, or certification requirements of domestic and foreign authorities may delay or prevent new product introductions, affect the production and marketing of existing products, or otherwise affect Company performance, (d) the potential of international unrest or effects of fluctuations in foreign currencies of countries where the Company does a sizeable amount of business, and (e) the possibility of reduced demand, or reductions in the rate of growth in demand, for the Company’s products and services.
STERIS Corporation
CONTACT: Investors, Aidan Gormley, Senior Director, Investor Relations,+1-440-392-7607, or Media, Gerry Reis, Senior Vice President, STERISCorporation, President, Strategic Technology Enterprises, Inc.,+1-440-392-7036
Web site: http://www.steris.com/
