29th May 2007 08:42
Synergy Healthcare PLC29 May 2007 Tuesday 29 May 2007 SYNERGY HEALTHCARE PLC ("Synergy" or "the Company") Significant Investment in China Plan to establish Synergy's first facilities in China at a cost of £15 million Synergy Healthcare plc (AIM: SYR), a leading provider of outsourced healthcaresupport services in the UK, Europe, Asia and South Africa, announces that itwill sign an agreement to build a £10 million medical device sterilisationfacility in Suzhou, China. Synergy also announces that it is at an advancedstage of discussions regarding its plan to invest up to £5 million to develophospital sterilisation services in Beijing. Medical Device Sterilisation Centre - Suzhou Synergy will sign an agreement to build a £10 million medical devicesterilisation centre at the Suzhou Industrial Park, in Suzhou. A delegation ofGovernment and trade officials from Suzhou, China will meet Synergy in Londontoday in preparation for signing an agreement to build the new sterilisationfacility. The new 33,000 m2 site will be one of the Company's largestfacilities incorporating gamma irradiation, ethylene oxide sterilisation andlaboratory and logistics services for medical device manufacturers. Theinvestment is being made as global medical device manufacturers increase theirinvestment in China both for export and to access the growing Chinese domesticmarket. The Chinese healthcare market is already worth £1.8 billion and is growingrapidly. It is the second largest market for medical devices in Asia, behindJapan. With an annual growth rate of more than 10%, China will surpass Japan inthe next six to eight years, to become a major player in the world market. Synergy is in discussions with a number of global medical device manufacturersand has already secured contract commitments from a number of companies. Thefacility is expected to open in the first half of 2008. Hospital Sterilisation Centre - Beijing Synergy is in advanced discussions to invest up to £5 million to establishhospital sterilisation services in Beijing to assist the Chinese Ministry ofHealth with a modernisation programme of its hospitals. Synergy plans to builda 3,000 m2 site modelled on its East London super centre. The facility willfocus solely on the sterilisation of medical instruments for Beijing'shospitals. Last August a delegation from China's Ministry of Health visited Synergy'ssterilisation super centre in East London as a model of best practice in the UK.The Chinese Ministry is updating its sterilisation regulations based on UK andEuropean standards. There is a substantial need to improve sterilisation practices in China's 14,000hospitals to bring them up to the level of European standards. The adoption ofSynergy's sterilisation services will enable hospitals to reduce infection ratesand increase efficiency by outsourcing their sterilisation requirements. Currently in China, approximately 150 million people enjoy health care close toEuropean standards and a further 150 million enjoy basic health care. Howeverabout 1 billion people receive very little or no healthcare. The ChineseGovernment wants to bring basic health coverage to its entire population by2010. Development Office - Singapore The acquisition of Isotron earlier this year gave Synergy a foothold in Malaysiaand Thailand. To enable Synergy to take full advantage of the opportunities inthe Asian healthcare markets, where the demand for outsourced services is due toaccelerate, a new development office will be established in Singapore. Thisoffice will lead the development of Synergy's hospital and medical devicesterilisation services as well as its infection control services, incoordination with the existing offices in Malaysia, Thailand and the newfacilities in China. Dr Richard Steeves, Chief Executive of Synergy Healthcare plc, commented: "These developments only represent the first steps of our strategy for Asia.Synergy is aiming to have a significant proportion of its profits coming fromthis region within five years and we expect to open four or five medical devicesterilisation facilities during that period, together with a number of hospitalsterilisation centres. "The fast growing demand for outsourced healthcare support services in Chinarepresents a significant opportunity for Synergy." ENDS For further information: Synergy Healthcare plc 01332 387 140 Dr Richard Steeves, Chief Executive Ivan Jacques, Finance Director Brewin Dolphin 0113 241 0130 Mark Brady Andrew Emmott Financial Dynamics 020 7831 3113 David Yates / Ben Brewerton This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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