UNION CITY, Calif.,
Feb. 6, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Abaxis,
Inc. (NasdaqGS: ABAX), a medical products company manufacturing
point-of-care instruments and consumables for the medical,
research, and veterinary markets worldwide and providing reference
lab services to the veterinary and research markets in the United States, announced today that the
Department of the Army, Army NAF Contracting has awarded the
Company, a contract to provide veterinary diagnostic laboratory
services to the Veterinary Services Central Fund (VSCF). This
contract provides point-of-care laboratory diagnostic instruments
and reagents, as well as reference laboratory services through
Abaxis Veterinary Reference Laboratories (AVRL) to approximately
118 Army veterinary activities within the Continental United States
(CONUS) and Outside the Continental United States (OCONUS).
The period of performance under this contract is for one year,
effective immediately with options for four additional one-year
periods with maximum order/quantity limitations of $3 million per year.
Randall Knick, Director of
Government Affairs of Abaxis, Inc., commented, "Based on the merit
of the Abaxis diagnostic product portfolio, we are very pleased to
receive the award from the Department of the Army.
Historically, we have had a very strong relationship with all U.S.
military branches both on the human and veterinary market. We
are excited to standardize all of the 118 veterinary clinics as
this will allow for an easier transition and shorter training times
for the end users, thus providing better results to their
clients. We look forward to continue to support our Armed
Forces."
About Veterinary Services Central Fund (VSCF)
Until FY
2011, Veterinary Treatment Facilities (VTFs) funds were a part of
the Non-appropriated Fund Instrumentality (NAFI) at each local
installation. The Veterinary Services Central Fund (VSCF) was
developed to capitalize on the efficiencies of consolidation of NAF
manpower and purchasing power, among other things, into a
stand-alone centralized US Army NAF fund under US Army Public
Health Command for all Army Veterinary Treatment Facilities. In FY
12, the Veterinary Facilities on Navy and Marine Corps
installations joined the VSCF and were followed later in the
year by all VTFs on Air Force installations. The VSCF has
standardized many VTF procedures, financial operations, accounting
submissions, and human resources actions giving greater oversight
to many areas of operations within each clinic.
About Abaxis
Abaxis develops, manufactures, markets
and sells 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 that 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 rapid point-of-care tests for
Heartworm infections, Parvovirus, Giardia and Lyme disease.
Abaxis, through its AVRL division, provides routine laboratory
testing as well as specialty testing for veterinarians
nationwide. For more information, visit
http://www.abaxis.com.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release includes, 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
risks related to the transition of its U.S. medical sales to
Abbott, potential excess inventory levels and inventory imbalances
at the company's distributors, 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 services,
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 and risks related to condition of the United States economy. Readers
should also refer to the section entitled "Risk Factors" in Abaxis'
annual report on Form 10-K, recent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q
and Abaxis' other periodic reports filed 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.
Contact:
|
Abaxis,
Inc.
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Lytham Partners,
LLC
|
|
Clint
Severson
|
Joe Dorame, Robert
Blum and Joe Diaz
|
|
Chief Executive
Officer
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602-889-9700
|
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510-675-6500
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SOURCE Abaxis, Inc.