SUNNYVALE, Calif., Nov. 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Cepheid today announced it signed a group purchasing contract with Broadlane, a leading supply chain services company serving more than 20,000 acute care hospitals, ambulatory care facilities, physicians practices and other healthcare providers throughout the United States. Under the terms of the contract, Broadlane customers can take advantage of Cepheid’s molecular diagnostic instruments, reagents and services for its GeneXpert(R) System and Xpert(TM) line of tests, including Xpert MRSA.
“This agreement with Broadlane expands access to the GeneXpert System, enabling rapid on-demand molecular diagnostics for thousands of healthcare providers large and small,” said Rob Koska, Cepheid’s Senior Vice President of Worldwide Commercial Operations. “Broadlane counts among its clients more than 915 acute care hospitals, 2,600 sub-acute care facilities and more than 18,000 physician practices. Cepheid is making it both technically and economically possible to perform molecular diagnostics any time and anywhere, representing a major advancement as institutions seek new ways to reduce costly and deadly Healthcare Acquired Infection (HAI) rates.”
Cepheid currently markets Xpert MRSA, a molecular test that runs on the GeneXpert System for the rapid detection of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Xpert MRSA results, delivered in just over one hour, enable health professionals to rapidly identify carriers of the potential pathogen and allow healthcare organizations to implement the proper infection control measures, leading to lower healthcare acquired infection rates while improving patient care.
MRSA is the leading cause of HAIs, a growing public health concern. According to U.S. Congressional Record (H.R. Bill 1174), these HAIs contribute to more than $50 billion in annual medical costs.
According to another study, published in the October 17, 2007 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, the authors concluded “based on 8,987 observed cases of MRSA and 1,598 in-hospital deaths among patients with MRSA, we estimate that 94,360 invasive MRSA infections occurred in the United States in 2005; these infections were associated with death in 18,650 cases.” In addition to Xpert MRSA, Cepheid currently markets Xpert(TM) EV for Enteroviral meningitis and Xpert(TM) GBS for Group B streptococcus in the United States.
About the GeneXpert Molecular Diagnostic Platform
The GeneXpert System is a closed, self-contained, fully-integrated and automated platform that represents a paradigm shift in the automation of molecular analysis, producing accurate results in a timely manner with minimal risk of contamination. The GeneXpert System is the only system to combine on-board sample preparation with real-time PCR (polymerase chain reaction) amplification and detection functions for fully integrated and automated nucleic acid analysis. The system is designed to purify, concentrate, detect and identify targeted nucleic acid sequences thereby delivering answers directly from unprocessed samples. Modular in design, the GeneXpert System has a variety of configurations to meet the broad range of testing demands of any clinical environment.
About Cepheid
Based in Sunnyvale, Calif., Cepheid is an on-demand molecular diagnostics company that develops, manufactures and markets fully-integrated systems for genetic analysis in the clinical, industrial and biothreat markets. The company’s systems enable rapid, sophisticated genetic testing for organisms and genetic-based diseases by automating otherwise complex manual laboratory procedures. The company’s easy-to-use systems integrate a number of complicated and time-intensive steps, including sample preparation, DNA amplification and detection, which enable the analysis of complex biological samples in its proprietary test cartridges. Through its strong molecular biology capabilities, the company is focusing on those applications where rapid molecular testing is particularly important, such as identifying infectious disease and cancer in the clinical market; food, agricultural and environmental testing in the industrial market; and identifying bio-terrorism agents in the biothreat market. See http://www.cepheid.com for more information.
This press release contains forward-looking statements that are not purely historical regarding Cepheid’s or its management’s intentions, beliefs, expectations and strategies for the future, including those relating to product performance, market opportunity and future products. Because such statements deal with future events, they are subject to various risks and uncertainties, and actual results could differ materially from the company’s current expectations. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include risks and uncertainties such as those relating to: market acceptance of Cepheid’s products; the failure of products to perform as expected, whether due to manufacturing errors, defects or otherwise; the impact of competitive products and pricing; and the fact that Broadlane customers have no commitment to purchase specific amounts of products, and there can be no assurance that they will do so in the future. Readers should also refer to the section entitled “Risk Factors” in Cepheid’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for 2006 and in its most recent quarterly report on Form 10-Q, each filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
All forward-looking statements and reasons why results might differ included in this release are made as of the date of this press release, based on information currently available to Cepheid, and Cepheid assumes no obligation to update any such forward-looking statement or reasons why results might differ.
CONTACT: John L. Bishop, CEO, +1-408-541-4191, john.bishop@cepheid.com, or
John R. Sluis, CFO, +1-408-541-4191, john.sluis@cepheid.com, both of
Cepheid; or media, Chris Stamm of Schwartz Communications, +1-781-684-0770,
cepheid@schwartz-pr.com; or investors, Jason Spark of Porter Novelli Life
Sciences, +1-619-849-6005, jspark@pnlifesciences.com, both for Cepheid
Web site: http://www.cepheid.com/
