08 Sep Frost & Sullivan Ranks SurgiLance™ #5 in U.S. Safety Lancet Market
NORCROSS, Ga., Sept. — After only two full years in business and with sales in excess of $3 million in 2002, SurgiLance, Inc., the United States sales, marketing and distribution subsidiary of SurgiLance Pte Ltd, Singapore, has climbed to the number five spot in market share among companies that sell safety lancets in the United States.
A market share analysis conducted by Frost & Sullivan (F&S) said only BD Medical Systems, Owen Mumford, International Technidyne Corp., and Hypoguard USA had larger market shares than SurgiLance at the end of 2002.
“Our sales growth since we opened our doors in November 2000 clearly suggests that the SurgiLance One-Step Safety Lancet is gaining favor among clinicians in the United States,” said Patrick Yi, president of SurgiLance’s parent company, SurgiLance Pte Ltd.
“Achieving fifth place after just our second year in operation against more established and bigger competitors is certainly commendable for our company and every member of the SurgiLance team,” Yi added.
SurgiLance Awarded F&S 2003 Distribution Leadership Award
In addition to its market share ranking, F&S also awarded its 2003 Distribution Leadership Award to SurgiLance.
In its award, F&S cited SurgiLance for its ability to develop key alliances with medical product distributors and group purchasing organizations throughout the United States.
“The current U.S. market for safety lancets is in the range of $100 million,” said Hugh Cooper, SurgiLance’s chief operating officer. “As healthcare facilities continue to convert from conventional to safety lancets over the next several years, we believe this market could grow by as much as another 50-100 percent.”
Cooper said the unique pre-armed capability of SurgiLance’s One-Step Safety Lancet is the major reason for the company’s sales growth.
“Our medical product is easy to use, minimizes patient distress, protects healthcare professionals from needlestick injury, and meets the sharps safety guidelines outlined in the Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act that was adopted in 2000,” said Cooper.
Lancets are commonly used in hospitals, physician offices, laboratories, O&G practices, oncology departments, emergency medical services, nursing homes and blood banks.
According to F&S, the estimated cost to healthcare employers for a single needlestick injury range from $540 for a low-risk bloodborne pathogen exposure to $3,800 for a high-risk exposure.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta says that for every 10 sharps injuries that occur, between 6-8 of them could potentially have been prevented if safer medical devices had been used.
About SurgiLance
SurgiLance, Inc. was incorporated in November 2000, slightly less than two years after Patrick Yi founded the parent company, SurgiLance Pte Ltd, in January 1999.
Specializing in the design, manufacture, and sale of safety medical devices, the company launched its first product, the One-Step Safety Lancet, in September 2000, after approximately 18 months of product research and development in Singapore.
One-Step Safety Lancets are available in five different models, each color-coded for easy identification and different penetration depth to ensure blood flow for various applications and skin types.
In August 2002, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office awarded SurgiLance Pte Ltd a patent for its One-Step Safety Lancet. In October 2002, the Singapore Registry of Patents granted SurgiLance a patent for the same product. In addition to the U.S. and Singapore, SurgiLance has applied for patents in Europe, Asia and Japan.
Major group purchasing organizations that have One-Step Safety Lancets on their approved list include Premier, Inc., who buys for more than 1,500 hospitals and other healthcare sites throughout the nation, and Broadlane, Inc., who counts among its customers more than 490 acute care hospitals and 1,600 sub-acute facilities.
The Department of Veterans Affairs has alsoåÊapproved the One Step Safety Lancet for use in all VA hospitalsåÊin the United States.
Surgilance’s One-Step Safety Lancet is available through many major medical/surgical product distributors, including:
* Allegiance HealthCare Corp. (McGraw Park, Illinois)
* Fisher Scientific (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
* Gulf South Medical (Jacksonville, Florida)
* Medline Industries (Mundelein, Illinois)
* McKesson Corporation (Richmond, Virginia)
* Universal Home Health & Industrial Supplies, Inc. (Tampa, Florida)
* Owens & Minor (Richmond, Virginia)
This release was published prior to MediPurpos changing its name from its prior company name — SurgiLance — in 2006.