Acquisition Expands Health Information Technology Offering from Virco and Reinforces Commitment to the Fight Against HIV/AIDS

BRIDGEWATER, N.J, Dec. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Tibotec Virco Virology BVBA today announced the acquisition of LAB TRACKER(TM) HIV, a customized electronic medical record (EMR) system, from the company Ground Zero Software. LAB TRACKER(TM) HIV is a full-service, scalable software platform designed to meet the complex disease-management needs of health care providers who are treating people living with HIV/AIDS. It facilitates secure data integration and exchange among clinics, laboratories, radiologists, and pharmacies; automates certain U.S. government reporting; and serves as a powerful data-mining engine for clinical trials, outcomes research, and grants proposals.

"EMR systems streamline and organize the exchange of medical information, allowing physicians to focus more on patient care and less on paperwork," said Karam Mounzer, MD, Medical Director, Jonathan Lax Center/Philadelphia FIGHT, Philadelphia, PA. "A customized EMR is of paramount importance in HIV care, in which successful treatment decisions and practice management rely on clinical history tracking, comprehensive reporting, and data analysis. Such system can help clinicians make better use of a high volume of patient information from multiple sources."

LAB TRACKER(TM) HIV collects, manages and analyzes critical patient data from physicians, pharmacies, labs and clinics. The software has the ability to graph viral load and CD4 trends against antiretroviral therapy, integrate longitudinal resistance profiles, and quickly collect and submit information for U.S. government reporting, such as that required by the Ryan White CARE Act. The software can be installed on existing PCs, networks, or laptops running on the Windows® operating system, and is compatible with previously installed applications.

Virco, a pioneer in HIV drug resistance testing since the mid-1990s, has a deep heritage in applying advanced technologies to combating HIV and other infectious diseases. The acquisition of LAB TRACKER(TM) HIV, which was designed using insights from health care professionals steeped in HIV care, is a natural extension of this commitment, and is aligned with the company's virco®TYPE HIV-1 antiviral resistance product. Virco has global rights to LAB TRACKER(TM) HIV, and Virco Lab, Inc., the U.S. operating division of Virco, is responsible for the sales, marketing and customer support of LAB TRACKER(TM) HIV in the U.S.

"The acquisition of LAB TRACKER(TM) HIV is a major step forward in expanding our company's health information technology offering, and a logical move following our long-standing credentials in HIV bioinformatics and drug resistance interpretation including our lead product, virco®TYPE HIV-1," said Werner Verbiest, General Manager Worldwide, Virco. "We will continue to explore new technology opportunities that are consistent with our commitment to enhancing the care of people living with HIV and other infectious diseases by optimizing clinical decision-making."

Virco will continue to provide full support to the existing LAB TRACKER(TM) HIV customer base. The company will seek Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT) accreditation to satisfy "meaningful-use" criteria under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA).

For customer support or service related inquiries, please contact Michael Tobin, Executive Director, Policy and Payment, at 1-888-224-4230.

About Tibotec Virco Virology BVBA

Virco is a pioneer and leader in HIV resistance interpretation. In addition to providing resistance interpretation with the use of its virco®TYPE HIV-1, education and facilitating access to resistance interpretation worldwide, it actively collaborates with hospitals and academic institutions in researching topics of virological and clinical relevance in HIV, HCV and other infectious diseases. The company is also actively engaged in the use of new diagnostic technologies and in developing bioinformatic tools and interpretation for these new technologies to develop potential new products for managing chronic infectious diseases. Virco's goal is to facilitate personalized clinical decision-making via advanced diagnostic and bioinformatic tools to improve patient outcomes. Tibotec Virco Virology BVBA is a member of the Johnson & Johnson family of companies.

Additional information on Virco BVBA and Virco Lab, Inc. is available at: http://www.vircolab.com

Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and other countries.

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on current expectations of future events. If underlying assumptions prove inaccurate or unknown risks or uncertainties materialize, actual results could vary materially from Tibotec Virco Virology BVBA's expectations and projections. Risks and uncertainties include general industry conditions and competition; economic conditions, such as interest rate and currency exchange rate fluctuations; technological advances and patents attained by competitors; challenges inherent in new product development, including obtaining regulatory approvals; domestic and foreign health care reforms and governmental laws and regulations; and trends toward health care cost containment. A further list and description of these risks, uncertainties and other factors can be found in Exhibit 99 of Johnson & Johnson's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2008. Copies of this Form 10-K, as well as subsequent filings, are available online at www.sec.gov, www.jnj.com or on request from Johnson & Johnson. Neither Tibotec Virco Virology BVBA nor Johnson & Johnson undertakes to update any forward-looking statements as a result of new information or future events or developments.

    Media Contact (U.S.):
    David J. Rebey
    Executive Director
    US Marketing and Business Development
    Virco Lab, Inc.
    Mobile Phone: 908-432-9137

    Media Contact (Global):
    Nigel Hughes
    Global Marketing Director
    Virco BVBA
    Mobile Phone: +32 475 554423

    Customer Contact:
    Michael Tobin
    Executive Director
    Policy and Payment
    Virco Lab, Inc.
    Mobile Phone: 631-786-4720

SOURCE Tibotec Virco Virology BVBA

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