SUNNYVALE, Calif., May 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Cepheid today announced it has signed a group purchasing contract with Premier, Inc., one of the largest U.S. Group Purchasing Organizations (GPOs) with more than 1,500 participating hospitals and 42,000 other healthcare sites. In conjunction with this agreement, Cepheid has also signed a preferred vendor agreement with the Western North Carolina Health Network (WNCHN), a collaboration of 53 acute care hospitals that utilize Premier as their GPO. Under the terms of the contract, Premier and WNCHN customers can take advantage of Cepheid's GeneXpert(R) System and Xpert(TM) MRSA tests at pre-negotiated prices.
"Integrated Delivery Networks (IDNs) within the Premier network have recognized the value and benefit that the GeneXpert System is bringing to their initiatives to better manage the Healthcare Acquired Infections (HAI) problem," said Rob Koska, Cepheid's Senior Vice President of Worldwide Commercial Operations. "We look forward to working with these member institutions to ensure the success of their infection control programs."
MRSA is recognized as a growing public health concern, cited as a leading cause of HAIs. Infection rates have increased every year since 1970. Xpert MRSA test results are currently available in approximately 70 minutes, thereby enabling rapid identification of carriers of the pathogen in less than 2 hours from the time of patient sampling to delivering test results to the floor. The availability of the Xpert MRSA test and the GeneXpert System is expected to enable Premier hospitals to implement more efficient infection control measures, leading to lower HAI rates and improved patient care.
On-demand Xpert MRSA results enable healthcare professionals to rapidly identify MRSA colonized patients entering the hospital population, thereby reducing risk of potential transmission. As recent studies published in both the Journal of the American Medical Association and the Annals of Internal Medicine demonstrate, true rapid test turnaround time is critical to reaching maximum results with a fully implemented infection control plan to reduce HAI rates and improve patient care.
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 and future market opportunities and market size. 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: unforeseen manufacturing problems; regulatory developments and practices regarding testing levels; customer and market acceptance of the product; the failure of products to perform as expected, whether due to manufacturing errors, defects or otherwise; the impact of competitive products and pricing; potentially lengthy sales cycles in some markets; reimbursement rates for the products; the fact that Premier and WNCHN members have no commitment to purchase any products, and there can be no assurance that they will do so in the future; and underlying market conditions worldwide. Readers should also refer to the section entitled "Risk Factors" in Cepheid's Annual Report on Form 10-K for 2007 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.
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