Henry Schein Announces Further Efforts to Address the COVID-19 Pandemic

-Named Exclusive Distributor of Second Point-of-Care Antibody Rapid Test
-Participates in White House COVID-19 SUpply CHain Task
Henry Schein, Inc. announced today that it will serve as the exclusive distributor in the United States of a second point-of-care rapid test kit that can detect antibodies associated with COVID-19 in as few as 15 minutes.
“Henry Schein is committed to bringing essential products to the health care professionals who are fighting the pandemic,” said Stanley M. Bergman, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Henry Schein. “During this unprecedented crisis, health care professionals need rapid diagnostic tools and personal protective equipment (PPE) to protect their safety and the safety of the population. In conjunction with our suppliers, we are determined to make these essential products available.”
Working with BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) (NYSE: BDX), a leading global medical technology company, and BioMedomics, a privately held, North Carolina-based clinical diagnostics company, Henry Schein will make the test kits available to health care professionals as part of the Company’s broad offering of point-of-care rapid tests.
The BioMedomics test analyzes blood, serum, or plasma samples for the presence of Immunoglobulin M (IgM) and Immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies associated with the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). The test is completed in four simple steps. First, blood is collected through normal blood collection devices, and then a few drops are transferred to the test cartridge, followed by two to three drops of a buffer. The results can be read in 15 minutes.
“The BioMedomics serology test has been validated in numerous hospitals around the world and will be a critical tool to detect current or past exposure to COVID-19,” said Dave Hickey, President of Integrated Diagnostic Solutions for BD. “We are proud to work with Henry Schein, a leader in the point-of-care segment, to get these tests to health care providers as quickly as possible.”
The agreement with BD and BioMedomics builds on Henry Schein’s announcement last week of an antibody rapid blood test, known as Standard Q COVID-19 IgM/IgG Rapid Test, which is also administered at the point of care and delivers results within 15 minutes from a pinprick with no instrumentation required.
“The COVID-19 rapid test kits are a part of Henry Schein’s response to the outbreak. These tests are important because they are fast and can be deployed where they are needed to help return our citizens to the workforce,” Mr. Bergman said. “We believe public health officials can also use these tests to better understand the spread of the disease.”
The Company is also a participant in the White House’s COVID-19 Supply Chain Task Force, and has worked with the Strategic National Stockpile to deliver PPE to COVID-19 testing sites.
Henry Schein’s Brad Connett, President, U.S. Medical Group, participated in a meeting at the White House on March 29 of the COVID-19 Supply Chain Task Force. As part of that effort, the Company is working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to source and deliver critical supplies quickly.
“Understandably, demand for test kits and PPE is acute, and the industry’s supply chain, as of today, is challenged to provide the volumes that customers require,” Mr. Connett said. “We are prioritizing shipments of these critical products for use by those health care professionals on the front line of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
At the meeting, Mr. Connett also stressed the importance of increasing the manufacturing of PPE in the United States to avoid future shortages.
Henry Schein has a long-standing record of addressing pandemic preparedness and response. Among other efforts, Henry Schein is in direct contact with the World Health Organization and other multilateral and domestic organizations as part of the Company’s role as the private-sector lead of the Pandemic Supply Chain Network, a public-private partnership created in 2015 to improve the efficiency of the supply chain for personal protective equipment.
To learn more about what Henry Schein is doing to address this unprecedented situation and the actions the Company is taking to get more product into the hands of those who need it most – health care workers – please visit www.henryschein.com/COVID19update.
For customers interested in more information about the antibody rapid test kits, please contact Henry Schein at (844) 211-0140.
Current guidance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends that results from antibody testing should not be used as the sole basis to diagnose or exclude coronavirus infection. Depending on the clinical scenario, additional testing may be considered to further evaluate the possibility of SARS-CoV-2 infection. The test has not been reviewed by the FDA but is permitted for distribution and use under the public health emergency guidance issued by FDA on March 16, 2020.
About Henry Schein, Inc.
Henry Schein, Inc. (Nasdaq: HSIC) is a solutions company for health care professionals powered by a network of people and technology. With more than 19,000 Team Schein Members worldwide, the Company’s network of trusted advisors provides more than 1 million customers globally with more than 300 valued solutions that improve operational success and clinical outcomes. Our Business, Clinical, Technology, and Supply Chain solutions help office-based dental and medical practitioners work more efficiently so they can provide quality care more effectively. These solutions also support dental laboratories, government and institutional healthcare clinics, as well as other alternate care sites.
Henry Schein operates through a centralized and automated distribution network, with a selection of more than 120,000 branded products and Henry Schein private-brand products in stock, as well as more than 180,000 additional products available as special-order items.
A FORTUNE 500 Company and a member of the S&P 500® index, Henry Schein is headquartered in Melville, N.Y., and has operations or affiliates in 31 countries. The Company’s sales from continuing operations reached $10.0 billion in 2019, and have grown at a compound annual rate of approximately 13 percent since Henry Schein became a public company in 1995.
For more information, visit Henry Schein at www.henryschein.com, Facebook.com/HenrySchein, and @HenrySchein on Twitter.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
In accordance with the “Safe Harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, we provide the following cautionary remarks regarding important factors that, among others, could cause future results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements, expectations and assumptions expressed or implied herein. All forward-looking statements made by us are subject to risks and uncertainties and are not guarantees of future performance. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance and achievements or industry results to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These statements are identified by the use of such terms as “may,” “could,” “expect,” “intend,” “believe,” “plan,” “estimate,” “forecast,” “project,” “anticipate,” “to be,” “to make,” “understand or understanding,” or other comparable terms. Forward looking statements include the number of tests intended to be made available and the timing for availability, the nature of the target market, as well as the efficacy or relative efficacy of the test results given that the test efficacy has not been independently verified under normal FDA procedures. A full discussion of our operations and financial condition, status of litigation matters, including factors that may affect our business and future prospects, is contained in documents we have filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, and will be contained in all subsequent periodic filings we make with the SEC. These documents identify in detail important risk factors that could cause our actual performance to differ materially from current expectations.
Risk factors and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from current and historical results include, but are not limited to: effects of a highly competitive and consolidating market; increased competition by third party online commerce sites; our dependence on third parties for the manufacture and supply of our products; our dependence upon sales personnel, customers, suppliers and manufacturers; our dependence on our senior management; fluctuations in quarterly earnings; risks from expansion of customer purchasing power and multi-tiered costing structures; increases in shipping costs for our products or other service issues with our third-party shippers; general global macro-economic conditions; risks associated with currency fluctuations; risks associated with political and economic uncertainty; disruptions in financial markets; volatility of the market price of our common stock; changes in the health care industry; implementation of health care laws; failure to comply with regulatory requirements and data privacy laws; risks associated with our global operations; risks associated with the Novel Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19); risk associated with the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union; transitional challenges associated with acquisitions, dispositions and joint ventures, including the failure to achieve anticipated synergies/benefits; financial and tax risks associated with acquisitions, dispositions and joint ventures; litigation risks; new or unanticipated litigation developments and the status of litigation matters; the dependence on our continued product development, technical support and successful marketing in the technology segment; our dependence on third parties for certain technologically advanced components; risks from disruption to our information systems; cyberattacks or other privacy or data security breaches; certain provisions in our governing documents that may discourage third-party acquisitions of us; and changes in tax legislation. The order in which these factors appear should not be construed to indicate their relative importance or priority.
We caution that these factors may not be exhaustive and that many of these factors are beyond our ability to control or predict. Accordingly, any forward-looking statements contained herein should not be relied upon as a prediction of actual results. We undertake no duty and have no obligation to update forward-looking statements.