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NEWS RELEASE
CONTACT:
Norris Battin
The Cooper Companies, Inc.
ir@coopercompanies.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COOPER COMPANIES TO ACQUIRE SPECIMEN COLLECTION DEVICE MAKER MEDSCAND
LAKE FOREST, Calif., August 27, 2001 -- The Cooper Companies, Inc. (NYSE:COO)
announced today that its CooperSurgical (CSI) women's healthcare unit has signed
an agreement to purchase Medscand Medical AB, a Swedish corporation, and
Medscand (USA), Inc., an affiliated company. Medscand develops, manufactures and
markets specimen collection products that are used to detect cervical cancer.
The transaction is expected to close this week.
Cooper agreed to pay $12 million for Medscand, whose products had revenue of
about $7 million in 2000. Cooper expects that the acquisition will be accretive
to earnings per share by the end of its first 12 months.
Medscand markets its products to clinicians, clinics, hospitals, laboratories
and test manufacturers throughout the world. An industry standard for over 15
years, the patented Cytobrush'r' Pap Test sampler and Pap-Perfect'r' spatula are
included in test kits supplied by Cytyc Corporation (Nasdaq:CYTC) for their
ThinPrep''r' Pap Test'TM'. Medscand also supplies a new, proprietary sampler to
Digene Corporation (Nasdaq:DIGE) for their Hybrid Capture II HPV Test (HC2). As
both of these technologies have increasing market acceptance, Medscand
anticipates strong growth from the products it supplies to support them.
About 85 percent of Medscand's revenue is generated in the United States. Its
products are used in the top 25 cancer centers in the United States and in the
Kaiser Permanente system. North American distribution partners include Owens
Minor, Allegiance and Source Medical.
With the Medscand acquisition, CSI continues its strategy of consolidating the
women's healthcare market by selectively identifying smaller companies and
product lines that can improve its existing market position or
offer opportunities in new clinical areas. CSI currently participates in the
diagnosis and treatment of cervical cancer with its line of colposcopes that
visualize cervical tissue and with instruments that perform the Loop
Electrosurgical Excision Procedure (LEEP) that removes precancerous and
cancerous tissue.
Medscand's leading cytology sampling product combination, invented by Nils
Stormby, M.D, is the patented Cytobrush'r Plus GT with the Gentle Touch Tip and
Pap-Perfect'r' plastic spatula. When compared in clinical studies with
broom-like sampling systems, the Cytobrush provided consistently richer
endocervical samples (1). "Brush and spatula" collection systems are widely used
by obstetricians and gynecologists (Ob/Gyns) in the United States to collect
endocervical samples.
The Cytobrush Plus GT is sold individually and also packaged with other products
including the Pap-Perfect'r' Single-Test Kit and its Pap-Perfect'r' Supply Tray,
which contains material for 72 Pap Smears. These products are manufactured at
Medscand's facility in Sweden, which is ISO 9001 certified, CE registered and
complies with United States Food and Drug Administration regulations.
According to industry estimates, about 50 million Pap smears are performed
annually in the United States (2) with an estimated 60 million performed
throughout the rest of the world. The American College of Obstetricians and
Gynecologists recommends annual screening for most women. Legislation introduced
in the United States Congress in March would extend annual Pap smear Medicare
coverage to all women, not just those classified as "high risk", the current
standard for reimbursement.
The most recent development in Pap testing is Cytyc's ThinPrep Pap Test, a
liquid-based cervical cancer screening method that in clinical studies has shown
significantly greater effectiveness than the conventional Pap smear for the
detection of precancerous cervical lesions in a variety of patient populations
(3).
According to Cytyc estimates, the ThinPrep Pap system is now used in over 46
percent of the cervical cancer screening tests performed in the United States.
Medscand's collection devices have demonstrated superior clinical efficacy
compared with other devices used to collect samples for the ThinPrep system (4).
Cytyc details the benefits of the ThinPrep Test to the estimated 30,000 Ob/Gyns
in the United States with its 200 person sales force.
Through its relationship with Digene, Medscand also participates in the growing
market for human papilloma virus (HPV) DNA testing. Certain strains of HPV have
long been associated with cervical cancer. In a recent study conducted by the
National Cancer Institute (5), Digene's Hybrid Capture'r' II HPV Test (HC2) for
the presence of HPV, was rated the most effective method for cervical cancer
screening in women whose Pap results were abnormal but inconclusive. It is
currently the only test marketed for this indication. The HC2 test can be
performed separately following an inconclusive result,
or from the same sample used for the ThinPrep test. Medscand and Digene together
developed a unique sampling brush for inclusion in the HC2 test kit.
Cytyc and Digene currently co-market their products, recommending HPV DNA
testing as the optimal patient management strategy for those with borderline
cytology results. CooperSurgical will add its sales resources to provide
complementary market awareness of Medscand products and their applications in
these new diagnostic technologies.
Forward-Looking Statements
Some of the information included in this news release contains "forward-looking
statements" as defined by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Forward-looking statements include all statements regarding anticipated growth
in our revenue, anticipated market conditions and results of operations. To
identify forward-looking statements look for words like "believes," "expects,"
"may," "will," "should," "seeks," "intends," "plans," "estimates" or
"anticipates" and similar words or phrases. Discussions of strategy, plans or
intentions often contain forward-looking statements. These, and all
forward-looking statements, necessarily depend on assumptions, data or methods
that may be incorrect or imprecise.
Events, among others, that could cause actual results and future actions to
differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements include
major changes in business conditions, a major disruption in the operations of
our manufacturing facilities, new competitors or technologies, the impact of an
undetected virus on our computer systems, acquisition integration delays or
costs, foreign currency exchange exposure, investments in research and
development and other start-up projects, dilution to earnings per share from
acquisitions or issuing stock, regulatory issues, significant environmental
cleanup costs above those already accrued, litigation costs including any
related settlements, cost of business divestitures, the requirement to provide
for a significant liability or to write off a significant asset, changes in
accounting principles or estimates, and other factors described in our
Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including the "Business" section in
our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended October 31, 2000. We caution
investors that forward-looking statements reflect our analysis only on their
stated date. We disclaim any intent to update them except as required by law.
The Cooper Companies, Inc. and its subsidiaries develop, manufacture and market
specialty healthcare products. Corporate offices are located in Lake Forest and
Pleasanton, Calif. A toll free interactive telephone system at 1-800-334-1986
provides stock quotes, recent press releases and financial data. The Cooper
Companies' World Wide Web address is www.coopercos.com.
CooperSurgical, Inc., with operations in Shelton, Conn., Montreal and Berlin,
markets diagnostic products, surgical instruments and accessories used primarily
by gynecologists and obstetricians. Its Web address is www.coopersurgical.com.
The Medscand products are described on their Web Site www.medscand.com.
CooperVision, Inc., markets a broad range of contact lenses for the vision care
market. Headquartered in Lake Forest, Calif., it manufactures in Huntington
Beach, Calif., Rochester, N.Y., Hamble, England and Toronto. Its Web address is
www.coopervision.com.
Cytyc Corporation develops, manufactures, and markets the ThinPrep'r' System for
medical diagnostic applications. The ThinPrep System consists of the ThinPrep'r'
2000 Processor, ThinPrep'r' 3000 Processor, and related reagents, filters, and
other supplies. Their Web address is www.cytyc.com.
Digene Corporation develops, manufactures and markets proprietary DNA and RNA
testing systems for the screening, monitoring and diagnosis of human diseases.
The Company has developed and is commercializing its patented Hybrid Capture'r'
products in three areas: women's cancers and infectious diseases, blood viruses,
and genomic and pharmaceutical research. The Company's product portfolio also
includes DNA tests for the detection of other sexually transmitted infections,
including chlamydia and gonorrhea, and tests for blood viruses. Digene's Web
address is www.digene.com.
Pap-Perfect'r' is a trademark of Medscand. Cytyc'r' and ThinPrep'r' are
registered trademarks and ThinPrep'r' Pap Test'TM' is a trademark of Cytyc
Corporation. Hybrid Capture'r' is a trademark of Digene Corporation.
References
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(1) Boon, Mathilde E, de Graaff Guilloud and Reitveld, Wop J. Analysis of Five
Sampling Methods for the Preparation of Cervical Smears. Acta Cytologica
1989; 33:843-846.
(2) Noller, Kenneth L. Incident and demographic trends in cervical neoplasia. Am
J Obstet Gynecol 1996; 175:1088-1090.
(3) Data on File Cytyc Corporation
(4) Selvaggi, Suzanne M and Guidos, Barbara J. Specimen Adequacy and the
ThinPrep'r' Test'TM': The Endocervical Component. Diagnostic Cytopathology
2001; 23: 23-26.
(5) Solomon D., Schiffman M., Tarone R. Comparison of three management
strategies for patients with atypical squamous cells of undetermined
significance: baseline results from a randomized trial. J Natl Cancer Inst
2001; 93: 293-299.
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