BRAINTREE, Mass. and LACHEN, Switzerland, Oct. 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Haemonetics Corporation and Octapharma AG announced today the signing of a multi-year supply contract appointing Haemonetics' Swiss subsidiary as Octapharma's preferred provider of plasma collection technology in Europe. Under the agreement, Octapharma will use Haemonetics' technology to separate plasma from donor blood. Plasma is the source of numerous proteins used for drug development and therapeutic purposes. These proteins include albumin, clotting factors, and intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG).
Octapharma, also a Swiss-based company, is an independent plasma fractionation specialist. One of the top five global plasma fractionators, Octapharma reported fiscal 2006 sales of euro 572 million with 32% growth year over year. The company owns four state-of-the-art fractionation facilities in Austria, France, Sweden, and Mexico, and operates a plant in Springe, Germany. Octapharma currently fractionates more than 2 million liters of plasma annually from both recovered and source plasma from the U.S. and Europe.
"In order to meet the increasing demand for Octapharma products, a key focus of the company is to extend production capacities in all our facilities," said Karl E. Clausen, Chief Financial Officer of Octapharma. "As part of this growth, we are pleased to be expanding our relationship with Haemonetics. Haemonetics delivers an excellent value proposition with plasma collection technologies, IT products, and services that can support the growth of Octapharma for years to come."
Stephen Swenson, General Manager of Global Plasma for Haemonetics, said, "Octapharma is a premier plasma collector and fractionator in Europe. We are delighted to be expanding our relationship."
As Haemonetics has been reporting, the plasma collection market continues to be strong as collectors increase capacity to meet demand for plasma-derived bio-pharmaceuticals. At the beginning of its fiscal year, the Company anticipated placing an incremental 1,500 plasma devices globally in the year. With the ongoing market expansion, including the Octapharma relationship, the company now expects to place more than 2,300 devices this fiscal year. Every 1,000 devices, once fully operational, contribute approximately $13 million in revenue per year.
Haemonetics is a global healthcare company dedicated to providing innovative blood management solutions for our customers. Together, our devices and consumables, IT products, and consulting services deliver a suite of business solutions to help our customers improve clinical outcomes and reduce the cost of healthcare for blood collectors, hospitals, and patients around the world. Our technologies address important medical markets: blood and plasma component collection, the surgical suite, and hospital transfusion services. To learn more about Haemonetics or the plasma market, visit our web site at http://www.haemonetics.com.
This release contains forward looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including technological advances in the medical field and standards for transfusion medicine and our ability to successfully implement products that incorporate such advances and standards, product demand, market acceptance, regulatory uncertainties, the effect of economic and political conditions, the impact of competitive products and pricing, blood product reimbursement policies and practices, foreign currency exchange rates, changes in customers' ordering patterns, the effect of industry consolidation as seen in the plasma market, the effect of communicable diseases and the effect of uncertainties in markets outside the U.S. (including Europe and Asia) in which we operate and other risks detailed in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The foregoing list should not be construed as exhaustive. The forward-looking statements are based on estimates and assumptions made by management of the Company and are believed to be reasonable, though are inherently uncertain and difficult to predict. Actual results and experience could differ materially from the forward-looking statements.
fallon@haemonetics.com
CONTACT: Julie Fallon of Haemonetics Corporation, +1-781-356-9517 or
+1-617-320-2401, fallon@haemonetics.com
Web site: http://www.haemonetics.com/
