Bacterin International inks fourth national GPO contract with Premier healthcare alliance

Bacterin International Holdings (AMEX:BONE) announced Tuesday a three-year contract with the Premier healthcare alliance, one of the nation's largest group purchasing organizations, serving over 2,600 hospitals and more than 84,000 other healthcare sites.

These sites represent over $43 billion in annual purchasing power, the company noted, with the deal marking the fourth national group purchasing organization contract for Bacterin.

The developer of bone graft material and antimicrobial coatings for medical applications said the agreement provides its full biologic portfolio for specialty negotiated pricing to Premier's nationwide network of hospitals and medical practices.

The portfolio includes Bacterin's OsteoSponge, OsteoSelect DBM Putty, OsteoWrap, OsteoLock, BacFast, hMatrix, Sports Medicine Allografts, and traditional allografts.

The group purchasing agreement became effective, after performing months of research and evaluation of the Bacterin product lines, Bacterin said.

"We are pleased to partner with Premier, a world leader in helping deliver measurable improvements in care," said chairman and CEO of Bacterin, Guy Cook.

"Bacterin has helped many healthcare institutions recognize cost savings on biologics by providing quality allografts with proven clinical efficacy.

"Receiving this award will help us reach additional hospitals and surgical centers within the Premier network of facilities and continue our commitment to reducing excessive spend while surpassing the needs of our surgeons and their patients."

Owned by hospitals, health systems and other providers, Premier operates a healthcare purchasing network. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, Premier also has an office in Washington.

Bacterin's technology optimizes the growth factors in human allografts to promote bone, subchondral repair and dermal growth.

The company's products are used in a variety of applications including enhancing fusion in spine surgery, relief of back pain, bone growth in foot and ankle surgery, cranial healing following neurosurgery and subchondral repair in knee and other joint surgeries.

In addition to bone graft material, the company also makes bioactive coatings for various medical device applications, including antimicrobial coatings designed to inhibit biofilm formation and microbial contamination.

In early May, Bacterin unveiled its third national group purchasing organization contract, announcing a three-year agreement with health care supply chain company Novation.

Founded in 1998 and based in Irving, Texas, Novation is a health care supply chain company for the more than 65,000 members of VHA Inc. and UHC, two national health care alliances, and Provista, LLC.