Unilife and IMCO enter exclusive marketing program for Unitract range of 1mL safety syringes

Nov 15 2010

Unilife Corporation ("Unilife" or "Company") (Nasdaq: UNIS; ASX: UNS) today announced that it has commenced U.S. sales of its Unitract® range of 1mL safety syringes.

Unilife and Independent Medical Co-Op, Inc. ("IMCO"), one of the largest medical supply co-operatives in the U.S., have entered into a preferred, non-exclusive marketing program for the sale of Unitract 1mL syringes to U.S. healthcare facilities.

IMCO's member distributors provide medical equipment and supplies to healthcare facilities across the U.S. and Canada. Many of IMCO's Members focus primarily on the physician and long-term care markets. These two segments of the U.S. healthcare market consume a significant proportion of all 1mL safety syringes manufactured each year.

Unilife considers IMCO to be an ideal partner to support the initial launch of its Unitract range of 1mL syringes in the U.S. It is now processing for shipment a number of initial purchase orders it has received from IMCO member distributors. Discussions with a number of additional IMCO members are currently under way as part of an integrated nationwide launch for the Company's FDA-certified range of products.

Mr. Alan Shortall, CEO of Unilife, stated, "Unilife is delighted to announce the commencement of U.S. sales and shipments for its Unitract range of 1mL syringes. It is appropriate that U.S. sales have commenced in the same month that healthcare industry leaders are celebrating the 10-year anniversary of the signing of the Federal Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act. Despite these laws mandating the use of safety syringes within U.S. healthcare facilities, many healthcare workers continue to remain at risk of needlestick injury, including injuries from existing safety syringe technologies.  We believe the automatic and operator controlled safety features that are fully integrated within the barrel of our Unitract range of 1mL syringes make them ideally positioned to help address the unmet needs of healthcare workers.

"IMCO is ideally positioned to act as a preferred partner to support our initial launch activities, given their focus and market reach within those healthcare sectors where the use of 1mL safety syringes is greatest. We look forward to working with IMCO and their members to successfully introduce our Unitract 1mL syringes to healthcare facilities across the U.S."  

Mr. Bill McLaughlin, CEO of IMCO stated, "Unilife's line of retractable syringes is outstanding in every way and will clearly become an important factor in the market, improving the quality of patient care and the personal safety of clinicians everywhere".

The Unitract range of 1mL syringes is the world's first and only known syringe that allows operators to control the speed of automatic needle retraction directly from the patient's body into the barrel of the syringe where it is locked in place. The products, which include insulin and tuberculin variants with a five-year shelf life, are well positioned to help prevent the transmission of blood-borne diseases such as HIV and hepatitis C via needlestick injuries, aerosol dispersal and syringe reuse. Primary target markets of the products include healthcare facilities, pharmaceutical companies and patients who self-administer prescription medication. Further information on the products is available at www.unitract.com.

Production of the Unitract 1mL Insulin Syringe at Unilife's FDA-registered facility in Pennsylvania is occurring on a fully automated assembly system which the Company designed, developed and built using in-house expertise. A video of this automated production system can be viewed at www.unilife.com.