Aircraft Medical Signs Multinational Distribution Agreement with Covidien for McGRATH® MAC Video Laryngoscope

EDINBURGH, Scotland, October 12, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

Aircraft Medical ("Aircraft"), the UK medical devices company, today announces that it has signed an exclusive agreement with Covidien (NYSE: COV), a leading global provider of healthcare products with 2010 revenue of $10.4 billion, and 41,000 employees worldwide.

Under the terms of the agreement, Covidien will market and distribute Aircraft's proprietary McGRATH^® MAC video laryngoscope in the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, Latin America, Australia and New Zealand.* The new agreement with Covidien complements Aircraft Medical's existing distribution agreements in 35 other global territories, and will increase the number of specialized sales and marketing personnel promoting McGRATH^® laryngoscope products to more than 500 globally.

In the U.S. alone, an estimated 17 million intubations are performed each year using a laryngoscope. The majority of these are performed with Covidien Mallinckrodt™ endotracheal tubes, bringing synergies with the everyday-use McGRATH^® MAC video laryngoscope. It is estimated that more than 50 million intubation procedures are performed globally each year, growing at an annual rate of five percent. The United States is the largest market, accounting for approximately one-third of these procedures.

The global use of the video laryngoscope is expected to continue to increase with greater awareness of the benefits of this device and technology becomes better adapted to mainstream clinical practice. First announced in October 2010, the fully portable McGRATH^® MAC is the first low-cost video laryngoscope designed to facilitate the intubation of both routine and more difficult airways.

"This agreement with Covidien is a significant step forward in the global rollout of the McGRATH^® MAC video laryngoscope," said Matt McGrath, CEO of Aircraft Medical. "Partnering with Covidien will significantly increase the number of specialized sales professionals representing our laryngoscope products globally. Anesthetists and critical-care providers are continuing to rapidly adopt the McGRATH^® MAC technology, and we expect to now further strengthen our position in the growing video laryngoscope market."

James E. Willett, VP and General Manager, Respiratory and Monitoring Solutions, Covidien, said, "Our partnership with Aircraft Medical demonstrates our commitment to deliver clinical value and improve patient outcomes in fast-growing critical-care markets throughout the world. By integrating the McGRATH^® MAC video laryngoscope into our respiratory product portfolio, Covidien can provide critical-care practitioners with a complete intubation solution to meet the needs of the continuum of patients."

Covidien will exhibit the McGRATH^® MAC video laryngoscope in the U.S. at Anesthesiology 2011, the annual meeting of the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA), October 15-19, in Chicago, Ill.

*Excludes pre-hospital segment and non-hospital emergency medical services segment.

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SOURCE Aircraft Medical