Glove deal-
Safeskin and Kaiser Permanente Sign National Agreement For Powder-Free Exam Gloves
PR Newswire - January 19, 1999 08:22
Kaiser Permanente Creates a Safer Environment for Patients and Employees
SAN DIEGO, Jan. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Safeskin Corporation (Nasdaq: SFSK), today announced it has been awarded a sole-source glove contract with Kaiser Permanente for Safeskin's powder-free latex and synthetic exam gloves. Safeskin is a leading developer and manufacturer of high-quality, powder-free, disposable latex and synthetic gloves for the healthcare, high-technology and scientific industries. The contract includes a full range of powder-free latex and powder-free synthetic (non-latex) exam glove products as well as sterile powder-free exam gloves. The three-year contract commences February 1, 1999 and extends through January 31, 2002. Terms of the contract were not disclosed.
Kaiser Permanente is the first major healthcare organization in the United States to adopt a network-wide policy for exclusive use of powder-free latex and synthetic glove products.
Kaiser Permanente began the process of selecting an exam glove supplier by screening for 13 quality factors, followed by extensive user acceptance trials by physicians, surgeons, nurses and other clinicians representing all Divisions.
"Kaiser Permanente selected Safeskin as its new glove partner based on the high quality and high clinical acceptability of Safeskin's products," said Wendy Huber, MD, chair of Kaiser Permanente's Latex Alternative Products Cross Functional Team. "Kaiser Permanente upholds the highest standards of health practices and eliminating powdered latex and synthetic gloves hospital-wide was simply the right decision to make. The partnership with Safeskin will help Kaiser Permanente create a safer environment for patients and employees."
Commenting on the newly signed agreement, Richard Jaffe, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Safeskin said, "Safeskin is pleased to establish this new relationship with Kaiser Permanente and expand its presence in the U.S. medical glove-market. As the recognized leader in powder-free technology, dedicated to becoming the sole-source provider of glove-related solutions for our customers, Safeskin is even more strongly positioned to benefit from the market's growing adoption of powder-free latex and synthetic products. With one of the broadest lines of high-quality glove products, Safeskin is in an excellent position to help Kaiser Permanente and other healthcare organizations achieve their glove-related goals, whether all powder-free or even latex-free."
Powder Free Product Benefits
Medical gloves are manufactured using powder to prevent the latex or synthetic formulations from sticking to the glove molds during manufacturing or to each other during packaging. Powder has traditionally been utilized to facilitate donning. However, powder also adversely acts to dry-out health employee's hands, potentially leading to irritation after extensive use. Safeskin has developed many proprietary processes that remove powder from the glove and reduce residual particles to among the lowest levels in the industry, while still maintaining optimal glove donning ease.
In the United States, the estimated market size for examination gloves used for medical procedures in the acute care, alternate site and dental markets is approximately one billion dollars and growing at approximately five to ten percent per annum. Powder-free latex represents approximately 45 percent of this total, while synthetic (non-latex) gloves account for approximately 19 percent of the total. The remaining 36 percent of the exam glove market is powdered and industry experts expect the majority of this powdered business will convert to powder-free latex and synthetic products over the next several years.
Kaiser Permanente is America's leading integrated health care organization. Founded in 1945, it is a non-profit, group-practice prepayment program with headquarters in Oakland, California. Kaiser Permanente serves the health care needs of 8.6 million people in 17 states and the District of Columbia. Today, it encompasses Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc., Kaiser Foundation Hospitals, and the Permanente Medical Groups, as well as an affiliation with Group Health Cooperative, based in Seattle. Nationwide, Kaiser Permanente includes about 90,000 technical, administrative and clerical employees and about 10,000 physicians representing all specialties.
Safeskin Corporation is a leading manufacturer of high quality disposable latex and synthetic medical examination gloves for the United States market and believes that it is the world's leading manufacturer of high quality disposable powder-free examination gloves. The Company produces gloves at its manufacturing facilities in Southeast Asia using proprietary formulations and processes.
This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including references to the growth of and market conversion from powdered glove products to powder-free and synthetic gloves, the ability of the Company to continue to enter into sole or multi-source contracts with healthcare organizations. Actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in the above forward looking statements for various reasons including those and others that are identified in the Company's readily available and most recent Form 1O-Q and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
SOURCE Safeskin Corporation
/CONTACT: Mark Francois, Director, Investor Relations of Safeskin
Corporation, 619-350-6840, mfrancois@safeskin.com; or Christine Berl, Media
Relations Specialist of Kaiser Permanente, 510-271-6319,
christine.berl@kp.org/
/Web site: kaiserpermanente.org
/Web site: safeskin.com
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