MDS Nordion and Rosenergoatom Ensure Cobalt-60 Supply for Healthcare Industry
23 Novembre 2005 - 1:30PM
PR Newswire (US)
OTTAWA, Nov. 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- MDS Nordion and
Rosenergoatom, Russia, are pleased to announce they have entered
into a long-term agreement for the supply of cobalt-60. This
relationship ensures the continued supply of cobalt-60 for use in
medical device sterilization and related applications to prevent
infection and disease. Cobalt-60 is used to sterilize disposable
medical devices and supplies such as surgeon's gloves, syringes,
sutures and catheters, as well as pharmaceuticals, implants and
tissue. Today approximately 45% of the single use medical devices
produced worldwide are sterilized using cobalt-60 irradiation. The
process, in use for more than 40 years, has been proven safe,
reliable and highly effective, not only for sterilization, but also
for pathogen reduction and disinfestation of food, treatment of
cosmetic products and materials modification applications. Unlike
some reactors that produce cobalt-60, the design of Leningrad
Nuclear Power Plants power reactors allows cobalt-60 to be
harvested while the reactor is in operation. This will allow MDS
Nordion to more closely match cobalt-60 supply to customer demand,
increasing the efficiency of the overall supply chain. "The medical
device sterilization industry relies on MDS Nordion to continue
investing in innovative relationships like this," said John Barker,
CEO of Isotron. "This is a positive step for the whole gamma
processing community." "Hundreds of millions of cubic feet of
medical products are sterilized every year, demonstrating the
important role cobalt-60 plays in protecting patients from harmful
microorganisms," remarks Evgeny Gorbunov, Department Head,
Radiation Technologies at Leninigrad Nuclear Power Plant, one of
Rosenergoatom's power reactor facilities. "We have enjoyed an
excellent relationship with MDS Nordion over the past ten years and
are delighted to take this next significant step in our
relationship, while playing a key role in the production of this
critical material." "MDS Nordion is the world's largest supplier of
cobalt-60, and with this agreement we can ensure a continued
reliable supply to meet the growing needs of our customers," says
Steve West, President of MDS Nordion. About Rosenergoatom
Rosenergoatom was established by the decree of the President of the
Russian Federation on September 7th 1992 as the operating utility
of Russia's nuclear power plants. Rosenergoatom operates all 10
state-owned Russian nuclear power facilities with a total of 31
nuclear reactors and an installed electrical capacity 23,242
Megawatts. Rosenergoatom has also increased electric and thermal
power output and recently commissioned two new power reactors;
Volgodonsk-1 and Kalinin-3. More information may be found at
http://eng.rosatom.ru/. About MDS Nordion MDS Nordion
(http://www.mds.nordion.com/) is a world leader in radioisotopes,
radiation and related technologies. MDS Nordion is part of MDS Inc.
(TSX:MDS; NYSE:MDZ). MDS Inc. has more than 8,800 highly skilled
people in 27 countries. We provide a diverse range of superior
products and services to increase our customers' speed, precision
and productivity in the drug development and disease diagnosis
processes. We are a global, values-driven health and life sciences
company, recognized for our reliability and collaborative
relationships as we help create better outcomes in the treatment of
disease. Find out more at http://www.mdsinc.com/ or by calling
1-888-MDS-7222, 24 hours a day. DATASOURCE: MDS Nordion; MDS Inc.
CONTACT: Shelley Maclean, External Communications, MDS Nordion,
Tel: (613) 592-3400 ext. 2414, E-mail:
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