Cepheid Signs Group Purchasing Contract With Premier Healthcare Alliance, One of the Largest U.S. Group Purchasing Org...( SUNNYVALE Calif. May 12 /- Cephei...),Health

SUNNYVALE, Calif., May 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Cepheid (Nasdaq: CPHD) today announced it has signed a group purchasing contract with Premier, Inc., one of the largest U.S. Group Purchasing Organizations (GPOs) with more than 1,500 participating hospitals and 42,000 other healthcare sites. In conjunction with this agreement, Cepheid has also signed a preferred vendor agreement with the Western North Carolina Health Network (WNCHN), a collaboration of 53 acute care hospitals that utilize Premier as their GPO. Under the terms of the contract, Premier and WNCHN customers can take advantage of Cepheid's GeneXpert(R) System and Xpert(TM) MRSA tests at pre-negotiated prices.

"Integrated Delivery Networks (IDNs) within the Premier network have recognized the value and benefit that the GeneXpert System is bringing to their initiatives to better manage the Healthcare Acquired Infections (HAI) problem," said Rob Koska, Cepheid's Senior Vice President of Worldwide Commercial Operations. "We look forward to working with these member institutions to ensure the success of their infection control programs."

MRSA is recognized as a growing public health concern, cited as a leading cause of HAIs. Infection rates have increased every year since 1970. Xpert MRSA test results are currently available in approximately 70 minutes, thereby enabling rapid identification of carriers of the pathogen in less than 2 hours from the time of patient sampling to delivering test results to the floor. The availability of the Xpert MRSA test and the GeneXpert System is expected to enable Premier hospitals to implement more efficient infection control measures, leading to lower HAI rates and improved patient care.

On-demand Xpert MRSA results enable healthcare professionals to rapidly identify MRSA colonized patients entering the hospital population, thereby reducing risk of potential transmission. As recent studies published in both the Journal of the American Medical A
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