STERIS Announces Breakthrough Solution for Infection and Biological Threats
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MENTOR, Ohio, Nov. 14 -- STERIS Corporation (NYSE: STE) today announced a new global market category in the fight to kill microorganisms and remove contamination on surfaces located in sealed enclosures. The recent market clearance from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for expanded use of the Company's Vaprox® Hydrogen Peroxide Sterilant technology enables STERIS to use its full array of cleaning chemistries, capital equipment and sterilization services to become the first and only complete solutions provider to combat emerging decontamination needs in both its traditional and new markets.
"The spread of germs and infections in public spaces and the threat of intentional biological contamination is a serious issue we all face," said Les C. Vinney, STERIS's president and chief executive officer. "But, until now, technology to sterilize large interior enclosures was not readily available. This development allows STERIS to offer a complete hygiene solution to address critical health issues."
The EPA clearance specifically identifies Vaprox as effective in patient rooms, emergency response vehicles, laboratories, industrial, commercial and institutional settings, pharmaceutical manufacturing rooms, hotel rooms, offices, cruise ships and recreational facilities. The Vaprox/vaporized hydrogen peroxide system combination has been shown to be effective against bacterial spores, which are the most resistant forms of microorganisms found in the environment.
STERIS VHP® sterilizers use a patented dry vapor sterilization method to inactivate biological contaminants. In use for over a decade in the pharmaceutical and research industries, Vaprox is the first sterilant product of its kind to receive a registration for the sterilization of surfaces in large sealed enclosures. One of the VHP system's most revolutionary qualities is that it does not leave harmful surface residues, reducing to water vapor and oxygen at the end of the sterilization cycle. As a result, the vaporized hydrogen peroxide system can dramatically reduce business interruption and recovery expenses for the organizations and areas undergoing mitigation.
Infectious disease and widespread contamination are rising global health concerns amid a startling shortage of solutions. Threats of pandemics and drug-resistant "superbugs" have increased the need for technological safeguards to reduce the potential for outbreaks. Hospital-acquired infections such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA)-new strains of staph infection resistant to common antibiotics-cause 100,000 patient deaths per year and cost U.S. hospitals alone over $30 billion per year.
STERIS anticipates that early consumers of its solutions will include high-value areas such as hospital operating rooms, in vitro fertilization clinics and intensive care units, laboratories, mass transportation, vehicles, and ambulances. The Company is working with leading national institutions to conduct clinical trials and evaluations.
Commenting on the breakthrough, Dr. Mark Smith, Chairman of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Washington Hospital Center, Professor and Chairman of Emergency Medicine at the Georgetown University School of Medicine, and Director of Project ER One and the ER One Institute, said, "Hospitals are places for healing from injury or illness, but are also places where patients can acquire infections. Hospitals can become contaminated with organisms that are of concern today, especially organisms that are acquiring resistance to treatment, with emerging diseases that will be of concern tomorrow, and with organisms that may be disseminated from an intentional release."
Dr. Smith added, "The ER One Institute and Washington Hospital Center were delighted to work with STERIS for the first demonstration of VHP sterilization technology in a U.S. hospital emergency department setting. This demonstration just took place at the end of the first week of November. The full potential of VHP sterilization technology is not yet known, but I am personally tremendously excited by the addition of this new approach to eliminating environmental contamination in hospitals. We are eager to understand if the prophylactic use of VHP technology can result in the reduction of hospital- acquired infections and if it can provide an effective means to allow hospitals to remain fully operational in the face of potential biological contamination."
University Hospitals Case Medical Center (UHCMC) has a long history in testing a variety of STERIS-associated cutting edge methods to control infection. "I am highly impressed with the capabilities of VHP technology applicable to the issue of infection control and its potential use to decrease hospital-associated infections," said Dr. Robert A. Salata MD, Professor and Vice-Chair, Department of Medicine, Chief, Division of Infectious Diseases and HIV Medicine, Case Western Reserve University at University Hospitals of Cleveland. "This current VHP technology, when adapted for wider use by healthcare settings, should help break the cycle of transmission of infection to patients by preventing contamination of the healthcare environment. Current studies at University Hospitals are being performed."
STERIS has been working with hospitals, pharmaceutical manufacturers, research facilities, and the U.S. Department of Defense to provide total solutions in contamination control and protection. With its extensive experience and broad offering, which also includes antibacterial skin-care products, decontamination chemistries for use on hard surfaces, and concentrated disinfectant detergents to clean, disinfect and sterilize, STERIS is uniquely positioned to market a total solution to combat a new generation of threats.
About STERIS
The mission of STERIS Corporation is to provide a healthier today and safer tomorrow through knowledgeable people and innovative infection prevention, decontamination and health science technologies, products and services. The Company's more than 5,000 dedicated employees around the world work together to supply a broad array of solutions by offering a combination of equipment, consumables and services to healthcare, pharmaceutical, industrial and government customers. The Company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol of STE. For more information, visit www.steris.com, or spacedecontamination-steris.com.
About Washington Hospital Center
Washington Hospital Center is one of the 25 largest hospitals in the United States and is the busiest Emergency Department in Washington DC. Washington Hospital Center was also one of the few hospitals in the country that was a major emergency receiving hospital for Pentagon victims on 9/11 and one month later experienced first hand the frightening effect of the Anthrax attacks of 2001.
About University Hospitals Health System
With 150 locations throughout Northeast Ohio, University Hospitals serves the needs of patients through an integrated network of hospitals, outpatient centers and primary care physicians. At the core of our Health System is University Hospitals Case Medical Center. The primary affiliate of Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, University Hospitals Case Medical Center is home to some of the most prestigious clinical and research centers of excellence in the nation and the world, including cancer, pediatrics, women's health, orthopedics and spine, radiology and radiation oncology, neurosurgery and neuroscience, cardiology and cardiovascular surgery, organ transplantation and human genetics. Its main campus includes the internationally celebrated Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital, ranked best in the Midwest and first in the nation for the care of critically ill newborns; MacDonald Women's Hospital, Ohio's only hospital for women; and Ireland Cancer Center, which holds the nation's highest designation by the National Cancer Institute of Comprehensive Cancer Center. For more information, go to www.UHhospitals.org.
SOURCE STERIS Corporation
CONTACT:
Aidan Gormley
Senior Director Corporate Communications and Investor Relations
440-392-7607
Stephen Norton
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