Alsius Corporation Awarded Three-Year Agreement With Pre...( IRVINE Calif. May 29 /- Alsius Co...),Health

IRVINE, Calif., May 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Alsius Corporation (Nasdaq: ALUS), the worldwide leader in intravascular temperature management (IVTM(TM)) therapies for critically ill patients, was awarded a three-year contract with Premier Purchasing Partners, L.P. to provide intravascular temperature management products to Premier's extensive network of hospitals.

"This is the fifth contract we have been awarded by a major hospital group purchasing organization in the U.S.," said Bill Worthen, president and chief executive officer of Alsius. "We are pleased that our temperature management solution was chosen by Premier and we look forward to working together to introduce our product offerings to its members."

The Premier healthcare alliance is a leading group purchasing organization that serves more than 2,000 hospitals in the United States. The agreement will be effective on July 1, 2008.

"Premier is committed to providing our members with systems and solutions that improve quality, safety, manage risk and reduce costs," said Mike Alkire, president of Premier Purchasing Partners.

About Alsius IVTM(TM)

Alsius IVTM consists of the CoolGard 3000(R), Thermogard(TM) and Thermogard XP(TM) systems and a family of single-use catheters, including the Cool Line(R), Icy(R), Fortius(R) and Quattro(TM) catheters. The catheters are inserted into a major vein through a patient's neck or groin, and circulate cool or warm saline in a closed-loop through balloons that surround the catheters. This approach decreases or increases core temperature from the inside of the body out toward the exterior, allowing for significantly more rapid control of a patient's core body temperature, with greater efficiency and precision,
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