Immucor and Alverno Clinical Laboratories Sign Five-Year Automation...( NORCROSS Ga. May 27 /- Immucor Inc. (...)

NORCROSS, Ga., May 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Immucor, Inc. (Nasdaq: BLUD), a global leader in providing automated instrument-reagent systems to the blood transfusion industry, announced today that it has signed a five-year agreement with Alverno Clinical Laboratories, LLC, one of the largest regional hospital laboratory integrated delivery systems in the nation, serving 27 hospitals in Illinois and Indiana.

Under the agreement, Alverno is standardizing pre-transfusion testing in 26 facilities with Immucor automation through the acquisition of 24 Echo instruments and 2 Capture Workstations. Additionally, Immucor will be the primary source for Alverno's blood bank reagent needs.

"We are pleased to partner with such an innovative organization as Alverno," stated Dr. Gioacchino De Chirico, President and Chief Executive Officer of Immucor. "We believe that integrated delivery networks can achieve significant benefits both in terms of improving operational efficiency and improving patient safety through standardizing their blood bank operations with Immucor automation."

"Our goal is to produce accurate and timely test results while implementing standardized best practices across all laboratory sites," stated Sam Terese, Chief Operating Officer of Alverno Clinical Laboratories. "We chose Immucor due to the exceptional functionality of the Echo instrument and its fit with LEAN operations as well as Immucor's commitment to improving transfusion medicine."

Immucor's innovative automation strategy provides scalable solutions to meet the needs of all blood banks, regardless of size. Immucor has continually invested in automation since 1998, most recently with the Echo instrument. The Echo, which is designed for smaller volume laboratories, features a broad test menu, instant access and the industry's f
'/>"/>