Health & Fitness
Health and Fitness
Health and Fitness
Wed, December 7, 2011
Tue, December 6, 2011
Henry Schein Signs Distribution Agreement for LED Dental's VELscope Vx(R) System
December 06, 2011 09:30 ET
LED Medical Diagnostics Inc.: Henry Schein Signs Distribution Agreement for LED Dental's VELscope Vx® System
System Helps Detect Oral Cancer and Other Oral Diseases
BURNABY, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Dec. 6, 2011) - LED Medical Diagnostics Inc. (TSX VENTURE:LMD) -
LED Dental announced today that it has signed a contract to have its VELscope Vx oral cancer screening system distributed by [ Henry Schein, Inc. ] (NASDAQ:HSIC) on an exclusive basis in Australia, New Zealand and The Netherlands. Henry Schein continues to be the exclusive distributor of the VELscope Vx system in the United States and Canada, a position it has held since the product's introduction in those two markets in late 2010. In addition, Henry Schein will distribute the product on a non-exclusive basis throughout the rest of the world.
The [ Oral Cancer Foundation ] estimates that over 37,000 Americans will be diagnosed with oral cancer this year. Because of the rapid growth in the number of head and neck cancers caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV), it is one of the few types of cancer that has not experienced a decrease in incidence over the past several decades. The situation is even more serious in most other countries, as the Oral Cancer Foundation estimates that over 640,000 people will be diagnosed with oral cancer on a global basis. In fact, [ World Life Expectancy ] indicates that Australia, The Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Italy all have higher death rates per 100,000 people than the United States.
"Just as in North America, we hope to help raise awareness of the rising occurrence of oral cancer throughout Europe and the rest of the world, and the importance of early detection," said Andreas Meldau, Henry Schein's President for European Dental Specialties and Exclusives. "We believe that supplementing the conventional exam with a VELscope Vx exam can help enhance our customers' ability to detect the disease at an early stage."
In Australia and New Zealand, Henry Schein has developed a launch plan that includes a series of high-profile lectures and workshops conducted by Professor Camile Farah, Deputy Head of the School of Dentistry at The University Queensland and Head of the Oral Cancer Research Program at the university's UQ Centre for Clinical Research. "With Professor Farah's exceptional expertise in the field of oral cancer research, coupled with his experience utilizing the VELscope system and the VELscope Vx's impressive track record in North America, we look forward to generating a high level of interest in this exciting life-saving device," said Gordon Anderson, Managing Director of Henry Schein Halas in Australia.
"We are extremely pleased with the performance of Henry Schein in the U.S. and Canada over the past year," said Peter Whitehead, founder and CEO of LED Dental parent LED Medical Diagnostics Inc. "There is a reason Henry Schein is the world's leading dental distributor, and we look forward to partnering with them on what we expect will be very successful launches of the VELscope Vx in these additional international markets."
Mr. Whitehead pointed out that in five of the new countries in which Henry Schein will be selling the VELscope Vx contain a total of approximately 125,000 dentists.
About LED Medical Diagnostics Inc.
LED Medical Diagnostics Inc. was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. Its wholly-owned subsidiary, LED Dental Inc., is the manufacturer of the VELscope Vx oral cancer screening system. VELscope devices, the first to apply tissue fluorescence visualization technology to the oral cavity, are used to conduct more screenings for oral cancer and other oral diseases than any adjunctive device in the world. For more information, call +1 (604) 434-4614, or visit [ www.VELscope.com ].
