Henry Schein to Begin Taking 2007 Influenza Vaccine Orders Tomorrow, January 3, 2007
Company Has Commitments to Receive Injectable Flu Vaccine From All
Three Manufacturers, and Expects to Sell More Doses in 2007 Than Any Other Distributor
MELVILLE, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 2, 2007--Henry Schein, Inc. (Nasdaq:HSIC), the largest provider of healthcare products and services to office-based practitioners in the combined North American and European markets, announced today that it will begin taking pre-booking orders for 2007 seasonal influenza vaccine, tomorrow, January 3, 2007. As previously announced, Henry Schein expects to distribute approximately 20 million doses of influenza vaccine during 2007, including product manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline plc (GSK), Novartis International AG and Sanofi-Aventis.
"In 2007 we expect to sell more doses of influenza vaccine than any other distributor, and to be the only company to accept pre-booking orders for flu vaccine from each of the three manufacturers of injectable flu vaccine," said Stanley M. Bergman, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Henry Schein. "As in years past, we expect the vast majority of our sales of influenza vaccine to be to office-based physician customers. At Henry Schein, we have more than 15 years of experience in selling influenza vaccine, and as a member of the National Influenza Summit we support the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's goal of vaccinating more Americans to help prevent influenza."
Pre-book orders will provide Henry Schein with an indication of customer demand for the 2007 influenza season. These pre-book orders are not binding agreements, and customers are contacted prior to shipment to verify orders.
Beginning tomorrow at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time, customers may begin placing orders for injectable influenza vaccine from any of Henry Schein's divisions listed below:
Caligor Medical: 1-888-CALIGOR (225-4467)
Darby Medical: 1-800-247-4768
General Injectables & Vaccines (GIV): 1-800-521-7468
Henry Schein Medical: 1-800-772-4346
Insource: 1-800-366-3829
About Henry Schein
Henry Schein, a Fortune 500(R) company, is recognized for its excellent customer service and highly competitive prices. The Company's four business groups - Dental, Medical, International and Technology - serve more than 500,000 customers worldwide, including dental practices and laboratories, physician practices and veterinary clinics, as well as government and other institutions. The Company operates through a centralized and automated distribution network, which provides customers in more than 200 countries with a comprehensive selection of more than 70,000 national and Henry Schein private-brand products in stock, as well as over 100,000 additional products available to our customers as special order items.
Henry Schein also offers a wide range of innovative value-added practice solutions for healthcare professionals, such as ArubA(R), the Company's electronic catalog and ordering system. Its leading practice-management software solutions have been installed in more than 50,000 practices, including DENTRIX(R) and Easy Dental(R) for dental practices, and AVImark(R) for veterinary clinics.
Headquartered in Melville, N.Y., Henry Schein employs more than 11,000 people and has operations in 19 countries. The Company's sales reached a record $4.6 billion in 2005. For more information, visit the Henry Schein Web site at www.henryschein.com.
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 which, 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" or other comparable terms. A full discussion of our operations and financial condition, including factors that may affect our business and future prospects, is contained in documents we have filed with the 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: competitive factors; changes in the healthcare industry; changes in government regulations that affect us; financial risks associated with our international operations; fluctuations in quarterly earnings; our dependence on third parties for the manufacture and supply of our products; transitional challenges associated with acquisitions; regulatory and litigation risks; the dependence on our continued product development, technical support and successful marketing in the technology segment; our dependence upon sales personnel and key customers; our dependence on our senior management; possible increases in the cost of shipping our products or other service trouble with our third-party shippers; risks from rapid technological change; risks from potential increases in variable interest rates; financial risks associated with acquisitions; possible volatility of the market price of our common stock; certain provisions in our governing documents that may discourage third-party acquisitions of us; and changes in tax legislation that affect us. 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, forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as a prediction of actual results. We undertake no duty and have no obligation to update forward-looking statements.
CONTACT: Henry Schein, Inc.
Steven Paladino, 631-843-5500
Executive Vice President and
Chief Financial Officer
steven.paladino@henryschein.com
or
Susan Vassallo, 631-843-5562
Director, Corporate Communications
susan.vassallo@henryschein.com
SOURCE: Henry Schein, Inc.