
Group purchasing organization goliath Premier health care alliance inked 6 new supply deals for surgical endoscopy, video and MRI compatible equipment.
Premier signed 3 new agreements for surgical endoscopy and video equipment with Olympus America (TYO:7733), Gyrus ACMI and Kalamazoo, Mich.-based med-tech titan Stryker Corp. (NYSE:SYK) .
The Charlotte, N.C.-based GPO giant also awarded contracts to Invivo Corp., IRadimed and Medrad Inc. for MRI compatible equipment such as drug pumps, oxygen regulators and emergency backboards.
Sign up to get our free newsletters delivered straight to your inbox
All 6 deals went into effect at the start of the new year.
Premier signed contracts during 2011with med-tech giants Covidien (NYSE:COV), Medline Industries, and Siemens AG (NYSE:SI).
Hospital GPOs have been vocal about signing contract recently, perhaps in response to Medtronic Inc.’s (NYSE:MDT) headline-making, Wall Street-pleasing decision to cut several contracts worth an estimated $2 billion a year for its cardiovascular and orthopedic products with Irving, Texas-based GPO Novation in February, 2010.
Novation touted more than a dozen new deals across general radiology and molecular imaging equipment recently, affirming its continued GPO presence in the market.
"As demonstrated by these agreements, suppliers continue to find value in the Novation relationship," Novation VP of contract and program services Michael Vintges said in a press release. "Suppliers find that participating in our contracts provides increased brand awareness and market share through access to the members we serve."