Hospital group purchasing organizations (GPOs) have been in the news a lot lately, touting new contracts on what seems to be an ever-increasing basis. The rise comes months after device giant Medtronic told GPO Novation it was cancelling 5 contracts for cardiovascular and orthopedic products valued at $2 billion.
But GPOs Novation and Premier have struck back, concluding several deals recently, as MassDevice notes. This week, Spacelabs Healthcare announced that it scored a three-year contract to provide its complete line of patient monitoring solutions to the VHA, UHC and Provista members served by Novation.
Premier scored a new deal with Teleflex and recently netted a two-year contract with Unilife ($UNIS), which has been making strides with its Unitract 1-mL safety syringes. Unilife has the capacity for 20 million Unitract units, and it plans to expand as it enters new markets.
Unilife's Unitract offering has attracted the attention of big players, including Sanofi. Unilife COO Ramin Mojdeh told FMD there are discussions with a number pharma companies for drug-device combinations and commercial supply deals. Discussions for clinical trials for these combinations are under way, and the company plans to disclose more information on these deals at the appropriate time.
Mojdeh also told FMD that his company plans to expand further, acquiring talent in both the executive and manufacturing areas. He also emphasized that the company is becoming an emerging global leader in injectable devices, despite the relatively short time it has been involved in the space. It plans to continue innovating and being responsive to patients.
- check out more from MassDevice