CHICAGO, June 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Female Health Company which manufactures and markets the FC and FC2 Female Condoms(R), today announces that its technical collaboration with Hindustan Latex Ltd (HLL) has been successful in winning an order from the National AIDS Control Organization of India. The order, for one and a half million (1,500,000) female condoms, will be manufactured in Kochi, India, in HLL’s newly commissioned factory. The female condom will be “FC2", the Nitrile polymer version of FHC’s female condom. (The technical collaboration between the FHC and HLL has been partly funded by the British Government’s Department for International Development through the Business Linkages Challenge Fund). The fund shares costs and risk with business partnerships for improved competitiveness, increased market access and to benefit the poor in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean. For more details of the partnership visit http://www.businesslinkageschallengefund.org/HealthFemaleContraception.aspx
O.B. Parrish, Chairman and C.E.O. said that, “This order is the result of HLL’s and Hindustan Latex Family Planning Promotion Trust’s (HLFPPT) commitment to make the female condom accessible to the men and women of India. For the past 18 months, the HLFPPT have socially marketed the female condom in 8 states of India with high HIV prevalence as part of a pre-programme assessment. We are delighted to see a major scale up of this program and especially proud to have enabled production to commence in India for the Indian market. This is the first initiative of its kind.”
Mr. M. Ayyappan, Chairman and Managing Director, Hindustan Latex Limited, stated, “This NACO led FC Social Marketing initiative will enable millions of vulnerable women to stay protected from HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. We are extremely happy to supply the Female Condoms for scaling up the NACO supported programme from our commercial manufacturing facility set up at Kochi in collaboration with FHC.”
About Hindustan Latex Limited
Hindustan Latex Limited (http://www.hindlatex.com), a government of India enterprise, was incorporated in 1966 to make superior quality male condoms widely available in India. Today, HLL is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of male condoms with an annual production capacity of over 1.3 billion pieces. HLL also manufactures oral contraceptive pills, intra-uterine devices, blood transfusion bags, surgical sutures and surgical gloves. Headquartered in Trivandrum, Kerala in South India, HLL has manufacturing facilities with the ISO 9001:2000 and ISO 13485:2003 and the FDA 510(K) quality certifications/registrations and HLL products have been accredited with the CE Mark. HLL brands are being exported to over 70 countries today.
About The Female Health Company
The Female Health Company (FHC), headquartered in Chicago, IL, is the maker of the FC Female Condom (FC1 and FC2), a revolutionary option offering women dual protection against both sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS, and unintended pregnancy. FHC was created as a worldwide company in February 1996 with the purchase of Chartex Resources Ltd., the holder of exclusive worldwide rights to FC1. The Company holds exclusive product and technology patents for FC1 in the United States, Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, the People’s Republic of China, South Korea and Japan. Patents are pending for FC2. FHC is the sole manufacturer and marketer of the FC1 and FC2 female condoms in the world. The Female Health Company and its partners currently market the Female Condom under FC Female Condom(R), FC2 Female Condom(R), Reality(R), Femidom(R), Femy(R), and Care(R) in the rest of the world.
For more information about the Female Health Company visit the Company’s website at http://www.femalehealth.com and http://www.femalecondom.org. If you would like to be added to the Company’s e-mail alert list, please send an e-mail to FHCInvestor@femalehealthcompany.com.
“Safe Harbor” statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995:
The statements in this release which are not historical fact are “forward-looking statements” as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements in this release may be identified by the use of forward-looking words or phrases such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “could,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “planned,” “potential,” “should,” “will,” “would” or the negative of those terms or other words of similar meaning. These statements are based upon the Company’s current plans and strategies, and reflect the Company’s current assessment of the risks and uncertainties related to its business, and are made as of the date of this release. The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this release as a result of new information or future events, developments or circumstances. Such forward-looking statements are inherently subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties. The Company’s actual results and future developments could differ materially from the results or developments expressed in, or implied by, these forward-looking statements. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the following: product demand and market acceptance; competition in the Company’s markets and the risk of new competitors and new competitive product introductions; the Company’s reliance on its international partners in the consumer sector and on the level of spending on the female condom by country governments, global donors and other public health organizations in the global public sector; the economic and business environment and the impact of government pressures; risks involved in doing business on an international level, including currency risks, regulatory requirements, political risks, export restrictions and other trade barriers; the Company’s production capacity; efficiency and supply constraints; and other risks detailed in the Company’s press releases, shareholder communication and Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including the Company’s Form 10-KSB for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2007. Actual events affecting the Company and the impact of such events on the Company’s operations may vary from those currently anticipated.
CONTACT: William R. Gargiulo, Jr., +1-231-526-1244, or Donna Felch,
+1-312-595-9123, both for The Female Health Company
Web site: http://www.femalehealth.com/
http://www.hindlatex.com/
