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PRO MEDICUS LIMITED — Capital/Financing Update 2008
Jul 27, 2008
65579_rns_2008-07-27_fd5cb356-ca80-4f38-b462-ed6585769870.pdf
Capital/Financing Update
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Telephone (03) 9429 8800 Fascimile (03) 9429 9455
450 Swan Street, Richmond, Victoria 3121, Australia
Company announcement
Pro Medicus signs new agreement with Agfa-Gevaert in North America
Highlights :
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PME increases control of sales and servicing with product to carry the PME brand.
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� PME to establish a presence in North America with Agfa assistance.
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Significant opportunities for introducing other PME technologies into North America, including expanding into new markets i.e. orthopaedics.
28 July 2008
Leading e-health company Pro Medicus Limited [ASX:PME] today announced it has signed a new agreement with Agfa-Gevaert, which will enable the company to exert greater control over the sale and servicing of its products in North America. This is in line with Pro Medicus’ previously announced strategy of leveraging its proven methodologies to capture a larger share of the North American imaging centre market.
Under the new agreement Pro Medicus, using the Agfa sales force as a conduit, will be able to sell its products directly to end users under its own brand name, rather than solely under the Agfa label. Pro Medicus will also be able to expand its offering into new markets – like orthopaedics and cardiology – where its technology is applicable.
The company is confident the new agreement, which will result in Pro Medicus establishing its own presence in North America, will lead to greater product sales and increased margins.
“Pro Medicus has worked with Agfa in North America for three years now and this experience has reinforced our belief that we have more intellectual property than just software to bring to the market,” said Pro Medicus CEO David Chambers. “Bringing our knowledge and track record into the client relationship is how we can deliver the highest possible value. It is a logical progression for us to make the transition to dealing directly with the client.
“More and more imaging centres are realizing that our digital radiology software can both improve operating efficiency and provide a platform for growth. To achieve these efficiency gains not only requires knowledge about the software but also an understanding of how to apply it to the imaging centre environment – something we have extensive experience with. To leverage this experience we have assembled a small but highly focused team in the USA comprising handpicked staff from both Agfa and Pro Medicus.
[Medical E-commerce and Imaging] Pro Medicus Limited ACN 006 194 752 ABN 25 006 194 752
“Importantly, Pro Medicus will work with the Agfa’s sales channels and will continue to be Agfa’s preferred RIS (radiology integration system) vendor for its digital imaging offering (PACS) in the North American imaging centre market. Agfa will also continue to support us with ongoing logistics assistance.”
Barry Stone, CEO of Agfa HealthCare USA, said: “This move is designed to enable us to be more nimble and flexible in the outpatient imaging centre market. We have full confidence in Pro Medicus’ ability to forge ahead on the back of the success we have had building a footprint in this growing market segment.”
Mr Chambers said: “Under the new model Pro Medicus will get the full revenue from the sale of products directly to end users. We will also pick up sales of additional products, for example Agfa’s PACS products, which we will now represent, as well as receiving ongoing service revenue directly. We expect that costs will increase in the short tem, but these will be offset by longer term gains.”
Mr Chambers said significant opportunities exist in the North American medical imaging market, which is not only 30 times the size of the Australian market, but is significantly fragmented, with no company holding a major presence.
“The client base there is largely made up of small and medium-sized companies who tend to look for best-of-breed suppliers. Pro Medicus is nimble, focused and specialised, so we are better suited to the specific needs of the imaging centre market than the larger, broaderspectrum, less specialised players. In that sense, we believe our size is a positive. In addition, the penetration of fully integrated digital software solutions among North American imaging centres is still only 20 percent, and no player has yet been able to establish a dominant position in this segment.”
For further information:
David Chambers Chief Executive Officer Pro Medicus Limited Ph: +613 9429 8800
Richard Allen Oxygen Financial PR Ph: +613 9915 6341
About Pro Medicus Limited
Pro Medicus Limited [ASX: PME] is Australia’s leading medical IT and e-health provider. Founded in 1983, the company provides a full range of integrated software products and services to individual, corporate and public health providers. More than 26,000 doctors are now connected to the company’s e-health service, promedicus.net, with the number of transactions across the network between general practitioners and specialists growing accordingly. A key growth area for the company is the adoption of its digital technology by radiology providers as they move away from analogue systems. An increasing number of
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Australian practices are taking up Pro Medicus’ digital technology and the company is now also making substantial inroads into the North American market. In late 2004, the company signed a watershed three-year $10 million deal with Agfa North America to exclusively license the Pro Medicus Practice Management and digital radiology software products for the large and rapidly growing private imaging centre market in the US and Canada. It subsequently announced a $2.6 million contract with a large Canadian radiology group which was completed in 2005. In 2007 and 2008 Pro Medicus has achieved the predicted growth in the take up of its digital integration in the Australian private market, steady growth in its e- health offering, as well as recording ongoing growth in its export sales.
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