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HemaSure Inc. Announces Two Major Strategic Agreements
Company Signs Distribution and Product Development Agreement With COBE BCT, Inc.
Renews Strategic Alliance With American Red Cross
MARLBOROUGH, Mass., Aug. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- HemaSure Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: HMSR - news), a developer and supplier of blood filtration technologies, announced today that it has completed two major agreements that represent significant milestones in the implementation of the Company's growth strategy.
HemaSure has announced a major international distribution and product development agreement with COBE BCT, Inc. (COBE), a $150 million business unit of the $2 billion Sweden-based Gambro AB. The Company also announced that it has renewed its master strategic alliance with the American Red Cross (ARC). The ARC collects, processes, tests and distributes nearly half of all blood donated in the United States. In May, HemaSure filed a 510(k) Pre-Market Notification Application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its new r\LS Red Blood Cell Filtration System.
Stated HemaSure President and Chief Executive Officer Jack McGuire, ''These strategic agreements represent a critical foundation of our growth strategy both domestically and abroad. Partnering with COBE, which has sales in over 100 countries worldwide and a long-standing history with the same customer base as HemaSure, gives us tremendous global marketing opportunities. In addition, we view our renewed strategic alliance with the American Red Cross as a vote of confidence in our core competencies in filtration technology.''
HemaSure Signs Strategic Agreement with COBE BCT, Inc.
The strategic agreement with COBE includes a worldwide distribution arrangement, excluding the United States and China, by which COBE will be the exclusive distributor of HemaSure's existing and future products. HemaSure's r\LS Red Blood Cell Filtration System, which was submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in May 1998 for 510(k) Pre-Market Notification application clearance, is CE Marked and will be the first product distributed by COBE. The agreement provides for the development of additional products by HemaSure for distribution by COBE, the first of which is expected to be a filtration device to be used in connection with COBE's automated blood component collection equipment.
Stated COBE BCT, Inc. President Edward C. Wood, ''This agreement successfully provides our customers with another high-quality product which they need to continually improve the safety of their blood supply. HemaSure's products will be a central element in COBE BCT's automated blood collection marketing strategy.''
Continued McGuire, ''HemaSure is very excited to partner with COBE on the development and distribution of present and future blood filtration technologies. The market for leukoreduced blood products is growing rapidly throughout the world and COBE's international sales, marketing and distribution capabilities will help HemaSure to capitalize on this trend.
Together, COBE and HemaSure are an effective team to deliver the r\LS and
other filtration technologies to global markets."
HemaSure Renews Strategic Alliance with the American Red Cross HemaSure and the American Red Cross have signed a five-year strategic agreement, with an option to extend for an additional five years, that allows the two parties to co-develop enhanced versions of the Company's existing leukoreduction filters, as well as to collaborate on other filtration opportunities. This agreement focuses on HemaSure's filtration technology strengths and provides for critical customer input on product design. It also extends the timeline of HemaSure's co-operative product development efforts with the ARC.
''This continuing partnership with HemaSure will serve as a key component for our long-term product technology development plan,'' said Niall M. Conway, Vice President of Manufacturing at American Red Cross Biomedical Services. ''We expect that this collaboration with HemaSure, combined with supplemental relationships, will bring significant advanced scientific research and development to the blood filtration field.''
Continued McGuire, ''We are very proud to have renewed our important strategic business relationship with such a respected organization as the American Red Cross. We believe this collaboration is a testament to our state-of-the-art filtration technology and the superior quality of our new r\LS Red Blood Cell Filtration System. With this agreement, the Red Cross continues its long-time commitment to the highest standards of quality and safety in maintaining our nation's donated blood supply.''
Continued Progress
Concluded McGuire, ''The completion of these two key strategic arrangements keeps us on track with the program we established about a year ago, after refocusing the Company's efforts onto blood filtration. First, we needed to redesign our red blood cell leukoreduction filter, which we accomplished in the first quarter of 1998 with our r\LS System. Additional financing, for which we received a written commitment last week, was the next critical step. Looking forward, we need to generate significant volume of sales and develop additional products, which these two strategic agreements, together with the clearance of our 510(k) application, are expected to help us accomplish.''
HemaSure Inc., based in Marlborough, Mass., develops and delivers innovative filtration technologies designed to help meet today's increasing demand for a safer, more reliable blood supply. The Company's blood filtration technologies are designed to reduce virus-carrying leukocytes in donated blood to trace levels.
COBE BCT, Inc. develops, manufactures, markets and sells automated blood collection equipment and accessories worldwide.
The Red Cross is the largest supplier of blood, plasma and tissue products in the United States. The Red Cross supplies almost half of the nation's blood supply by working with more than 4.5 million donors and 3,000 hospitals through its national network of 38 blood regions. In addition, the Red Cross supplies one-quarter of the nation's tissue for transplantation through its network of 15 tissue centers nationwide.
Any statements contained herein that are not historical facts are forward- looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and involve risks and uncertainties. Potential factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. These statements include, but are not limited to, those relating to the Company's product development and distribution agreement with COBE BCT, Inc., the strategic alliance with the American Red Cross, the Company's financing commitment, the launch of the Company's r\LS System in the United States and internationally and related regulatory approvals. Information on the potential factors that could affect the Company's actual results of operations are included in its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 1997. |
