NEWS
Industry News Vizient invests with PPE manufacturers to expand, stabilize U.S.-based supply Vizient, Inc. (Irving, TX) has entered into strategic partnership agreements with Encompass, Standard Textile, and Prestige Ameritech in order to expand the available supply of a variety of needed personal protective equipment (PPE) items. Building on an earlier agreement with Encompass Group, LLC for 19 million disposable gowns, in August, Vizient announced a new agreement with the company to provide an additional 65 million AAMI level 3 disposable isolation gowns manufactured annually in North America to its member hospitals. Since then, Vizient has partnered to help Encompass start a new, automated manufacturing line for disposable gowns in the U.S., bringing both supply and onshore resiliency for these products, the company says. The new manufacturing line is expected to be up and running in the first quarter of 2022. Vizient has also partnered with Standard Textile to expand its US-based manufacturing operations for Vizient members. In the initial months of the pandemic, the agreement provided 1.4 million reusable fabric cover gowns (approximately 75 uses each), 1 million reusable fabric face masks and 500,000 reusable plastic face shields for Vizient members. In August, Standard Textile joined the Novaplus Enhanced Supply Program, which provides Vizient members with globally diversified manufacturing and USbased stockpiles. 50
March 2021
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As a result, an additional 5.2 million reusable gowns, 1.3 million shoe covers, 1.5 million bouffant caps, 1.5 million skull caps and 1.3 million fabric face masks per year will be available for Vizient members who participate in the program. Vizient also has a commitment to Prestige Ameritech for 9 million, U.S.-made N95 masks over a 12-month period. Since the agreement launched in April 2020, approximately 700,000 masks have been delivered monthly to program participants, Vizient said.
Sysmex, Roche renew agreement for global alliance Roche (Basel, Switzerland) announced that, on December 14, 2020, it signed a Global Business Partnership Agreement (GBPA) with Sysmex. Sysmex and Roche initially signed a GBPA on December 14, 2020 to form a framework for their alliance and commenced activities accordingly on January 1, 2021. The GBPA includes the DSSA and the TLSA, as well as an IT Solutions Collaboration Agreement, and the two companies have agreed to develop a next-generation global alliance. Roche will continue to distribute and support Sysmex hematology products in selected countries in Central and South America, Europe, southern Africa, and Oceania. Sysmex plans to boost direct sales and support structures in Spain and India, both of which were added to their list of territories pursuant to the TLSA, in a bid to increase the resilience of the two companies’ global sales and service network.
