UNION CITY, Calif.,
Jan. 27, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Abaxis,
Inc. (Nasdaq: ABAX), a medical products company manufacturing
point-of-care blood analysis instruments for the medical, research
and veterinary markets, announced today that it has formed a
strategic alliance with Kansas State
University, K-State Veterinary Diagnostic Lab, and the
commercial arm of Kansas State
University, the National Institute for Strategic Technology
Acquisition and Commercialization (NISTAC). This alliance will
provide a full service commercial laboratory for veterinarians
across the United States.
Abaxis is in the final stages of building selection in the
Kansas City area, which is in
close proximity to both the Kansas City Airport and the K-State
campus in Manhattan, Kansas. The
space will house a state-of-the-art laboratory testing facility
that will be the hub of the Abaxis Veterinary Reference Laboratory
(AVRL). Abaxis has secured employment agreements with senior
executives with extensive experience in start-up, operation, and
commercialization of laboratory services. Abaxis has also
contracted with consultants with broad experience in animal health
laboratory commercialization and has had extensive Abaxis Advisory
Board participation in the planning phases of AVRL.
Clint Severson, CEO and Chairman
of the Board of Abaxis commented, "We have been working on this
project for one and a half years, and are excited that the
strategic alliance has finally come together so we can get to work
on executing the plans that have been in place for some time
now."
Martin Mulroy, Vice President of
Sales and Marketing for North American Animal Health added, "While
this venture will be a full service, highly competitive commercial
laboratory, it will focus on specialty and esoteric testing and
analysis which today cannot typically be conducted at the point of
care. AVRL gives Abaxis yet another tool to help our customers
operate the most comprehensive, competitive and cost-effective
veterinary practices in the US."
"Combining the experienced professionals to run AVRL along with
the reputation of a highly regarded Veterinary School in K-State,
positions us to quickly begin commercial operations with a high
quality product and superior service that one would expect from
Abaxis," commented Michael Solomon,
Director of Business Development for North America Animal
Health.
One of the oldest veterinary schools in the United States, the K-State College of Veterinary Medicine was
established in 1905 and has graduated almost 6,500 veterinarians in
its history. Currently, there are approximately 3,000
K-State College of Veterinary Medicine
alumni in practice in the United
States. Each year the veterinary school has a class size of
over 110 students that are instructed by almost 80 veterinary
faculty members. In 2010, Kansas State
University brought in over $16
million in research support.
"Collaboration between our animal health experts here at K-State
and Abaxis shows what is possible when higher education and
industry work together," said Kirk
Schulz, Kansas State University
president. "Building relationships like this will help make K-State
a top 50 public research university. The partnership with Abaxis
provides momentum not only for K-State but for the Kansas City
Animal Health Corridor as a whole."
About Abaxis, Inc.
Abaxis develops, manufactures and markets portable blood
analysis systems for use in any veterinary or human patient-care
setting to provide clinicians with rapid blood constituent
measurements. The system consists of a compact, 5.1 kilogram (11.2
pounds), portable analyzer and a series of single-use plastic
discs, called reagent discs or rotors, which contain all the
chemicals required to perform a panel of up to 13 tests on
veterinary patients and 14 tests on human patients. The system can
be operated with minimal training and performs multiple routine
tests on whole blood, serum or plasma samples. The system provides
test results in less than 12 minutes with the precision and
accuracy equivalent to a clinical laboratory analyzer. The
veterinary business also provides to the animal health and research
market a line of hematology instruments for point of care complete
blood counts (CBC), a specialty instrument to screen for and detect
clotting disorders and to measure equine fibrinogen levels, a
handheld instrument for the rapid assessment of certain critical
care tests and a rapid point of care test for Heartworm infections
in dogs.
About Kansas State
University
Kansas State University is a
land-grant, public research university with three campuses across
the state. The Olathe campus will
bring together K-State's expertise in animal health and food safety
and security. The Graduate School offers 65 masters degrees, 45
doctoral degrees and 22 graduate certificates. K-State has more
than 250 undergraduate majors and options.
This press release includes, and our conference call will
include, statements that constitute "forward-looking statements"
within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
of 1995 (the "Reform Act"), including but not limited to statements
related to Abaxis' cash position, financial resources and potential
for future growth, market acceptance and penetration of new or
planned product offerings, and future recurring revenues and
results of operations. Abaxis claims the protection of the
safe-harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Reform
Act. These forward-looking statements are often characterized
by the terms "may," "believes," "projects," "expects,"
"anticipates," or words of similar import, and do not reflect
historical facts. Specific forward-looking statements
contained in this press release or in Abaxis' conference call may
be affected by risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited
to, those related to losses or system failures with respect to
Abaxis' facilities or manufacturing operations, fluctuations in
quarterly operating results, dependence on sole suppliers, the
market acceptance of Abaxis' products and the continuing
development of its products, required United States Food and Drug
Administration clearance and other government approvals, risks
associated with manufacturing and distributing its products on a
commercial scale free of defects, risks related to the introduction
of new instruments manufactured by third parties, risks associated
with competing in the human diagnostic market, risks related to the
protection of Abaxis' intellectual property or claims of
infringement of intellectual property asserted by third parties,
risks related to condition of the United
States economy and other risks detailed under "Risk Factors"
in Abaxis' Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal
quarter ended September 30, 2010
and Abaxis' other periodic reports filed from time to time with
the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.
Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date the
statements were made. Abaxis does not undertake and
specifically disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking
statements.
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Contact:
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Clint Severson
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Lytham Partners, LLC
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Chief Executive
Officer
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Joe Dorame, Robert Blum and Joe
Diaz
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Abaxis, Inc.
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602-889-9700
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510-675-6500
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SOURCE Abaxis, Inc.