Tuesday, 16 October 2007 HIGHLIGHTS • Commercial production of the SecureTouch™ retractable safety syringe has commenced.
• Sales of the SecureTouch™ to be initiated immediately to retail pharmacies via the Company’s wholly owned subsidiary, Bagot Press.
• Delivery of initial 5,000 units to Bagot Press completed on Monday 15 October 2007.
• Presentation of the SecureTouch™ to other private and public sector markets underway.
• Production to be scaled-up over the coming months as demand requires.
Safety Medical Products Limited (“the Company” or “SafetyMed”) (ASX Code: SFP) is pleased to announce that it has commenced commercial production of the SecureTouch™ retractable safety syringe at its facility in Salisbury Plain, Adelaide. This is a significant milestone for SafetyMed and will allow for the initial sales of the SecureTouch™ to be undertaken by the Company’s wholly owned subsidiary Bagot Press. Delivery of the initial 5,000 units to Bagot Press was completed yesterday.
Bagot Press is a supplier of printing services and consumable products to retail pharmacies throughout Australia and has existing sales relationships with in excess of 2,000 pharmacies.
Commencement of commercial production now allows SafetyMed to start the process of presenting the SecureTouch™ to other private and public sector markets such as medical product distributors and wholesalers, Public and Private hospitals and Government procurement offices. SafetyMed CEO Mr. John Riemelmoser said, “the launch of the SecureTouch™ will for the first time provide healthcare workers, other syringe users and the general community with a safety syringe that is easy to use, utilising an existing well known base syringe and at a cost only marginally higher than existing standard non-safety syringes”.
1 Supplementary Submission to the Senate Community Affairs References Committee Inquiry into Nursing: Reducing Needle stick Injury in Australian Hospitals through the Use of Safety Engineered Products, March 6 2002, S Martland, BD.
Estimates from the USA suggest that the cost per needlestick injury, where the injury does not result in the transmission of a disease, is between US$200 and US$2,000. However, where the injury does result in the transmission of a disease, the cost per injury is estimated to be between US$500,000 and US$1,000,000.
“We are extremely excited to have commenced commercial production and look forward to providing the Australian and offshore markets with this innovative safety syringe”, Mr. Riemelmoser added. Current production capacity is in the order of 250,000 units per month. This will be progressively scaled-up over the coming months as demand for the SecureTouch™ increases and automated packaging equipment is installed. It is anticipated that full production capacity from the existing assembly machine will be in the order of 3 million units per month.
Yours Sincerely John Riemelmoser Managing Director For further information please contact: Mr. John Riemelmoser Mr. Duncan Gordon Managing Director Investor Relations Safety Medical Products Limited Adelaide Equity Partners Ltd Ph (08) 8285 5226 Ph (08) 8232 8800 Fax (08) 8285 3228 Fax (08) 8232 8811 Email [email protected] Email [email protected]
SFP Price at posting:
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