Aesculap Awarded Surgical Instrument Agreement With Novation

CENTER VALLEY, Pa. -- Aesculap, Inc. announced today that it has

been awarded a 36-month multi-source agreement with Novation for a broad

range of general, neurosurgery and endoscopic products. The recently signed

agreement is the first Surgical Instrument contract Aesculap has earned with

Novation, the supply company for VHA Inc. and University HealthSystem

Consortium (UHC), two national healthcare alliances.

Under terms of the agreement, Novation's VHA and UHC members can now access

a complete array of Aesculap's general and specialty surgical instruments,

repair and refurbishing, laparoscopic instruments, and YasargilTM aneurysm

clips at cost-effective pricing and terms, as well as Aesculap's world-class

service and support.

"We are pleased to have been selected by the VHA and UHC members of Novation

and look forward to working hand-in-hand with its members to help them

maximize the benefit of this new agreement," said Dirk Kuyper, chief

operating officer of Aesculap. "This agreement will provide us with the

opportunity to expand our relationships and grow our business with one of

the largest and most prestigious group purchasing organizations in the U.S."

Through this agreement, VHA and UHC members will have access to Aesculap's

Surgical Quality Management (SQM) program, a comprehensive quality

management solution that addresses all aspects of surgical services.

Surgical Quality Management provides a roadmap for evaluating, improving and

expanding the surgical efficiency and quality for any institution -- from

community hospitals to the world's largest teaching institutions. Elements

of the program include surgical asset management, operations and supply

chain management, and education and implementation.

"Our focus is to provide VHA and UHC healthcare organizations with the

lowest total delivered cost on the highest-quality products so they can

deliver high-quality cost-effective healthcare," said Zee Robertson,

Novation senior director, surgical service line. "Aesculap offers a good

balance between quality instruments and cost effectiveness."