| St. Louis, MO (October 21, 2006) –bioMérieux, Inc, a leading industrial microbiology company, recently shipped four cases (approximately 400 tests) of BacT/ALERT® blood culture bottles, at no charge, to the Blood Center of New Orleans. The supplies are valued at more than $2,800. bioMérieux sent the supplies to this blood bank to show its commitment toward area revitalization and in hopes of easing the burden after the destruction of Hurricane Katrina. This was the second significant contribution of this kind. Last year, bioMérieux sold the blood center BacT/ALERT® equipment for half the regular price.
“We felt it was our responsibility to help assuage the troubles of the people affected by Katrina,” said Eric Bouvier, bioMérieux’s North American president and CEO. “The New Orleans area suffered immensely after the hurricane, and we are very proud that our supplies can contribute to improving the health care available in that region.”
“Our staff is extremely grateful for bioMérieux’s generous donation to our center,” said Dr. Tim Peterson, medical director of the Blood Center of New Orleans. “This equipment is invaluable to our lab and will help ensure our commitment to patient safety.”
The BacT/ALERT® 3D is an automated microbial detection system that integrates blood, sterile body fluid, platelet quality control testing and mycobacterium culturing. BacT/ALERT 3D’s colorimetric technology demonstrates comprehensive recovery of a wide range of organisms.
bioMérieux will showcase the BacT/ALERT 3D at the American Association of Blood Banks (AABB) Annual Meeting in October.
About bioMérieux
bioMérieux is a leading international diagnostics group that specializes in the field of in vitro diagnostics for clinical and industrial applications.bioMérieux designs, develops, manufactures and markets systems (i.e. reagents, instruments and software) used in:
Clinical applications: the diagnosis of infectious diseases such as hepatitis, HIV, tuberculosis and respiratory illnesses, as well as pathologies such as certain cardiovascular diseases and certain cancers, based on the analysis of biological samples (such as blood, saliva or urine); and
Industrial applications: the microbiological analysis of food, environments (such as water and air), surfaces and pharmaceutical and cosmetic products, based on product or environmental samples.
In 2005, bioMérieux sales reached 994 million euros. The company is present in more than 130 countries through 35 subsidiaries and a large network of distributors, which positions the company well to benefit from the growth potential of the in vitro diagnostics market. Some important drivers that underpin this growth are aging populations and age-related illness, illnesses related to life-style and eating habits, emerging new pathogens, the development of antibiotic -resistant bacteria, the fight against bio-terrorism, and the recognition of the importance of the quality of food products. bioMérieux is listed on the Eurolist of Euronext, Paris (FR0010096479 – BIM).Other information can be found at www.biomerieux-usa.com.
|
