ICU Medical Launches Diana™ Automated Sterile Compounding System for the Accurate, Safe, and Efficient Preparation of Hazardous Drugs

SAN CLEMENTE, Calif., Nov. 29, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- ICU Medical, Inc. (NASDAQ: ICUI) today announced the U.S. launch of the Diana Hazardous Drug Compounding System at the American Society of Health System Pharmacists (ASHP) Midyear Meeting and Exposition in Las Vegas December 2-6, 2012. The Diana system is the world's first user-controlled automated sterile compounding system for the accurate, safe, and efficient preparation of hazardous drugs, and has been in clinical use in Europe for more than a year.

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Unlike automated technologies that require huge investments and do not fit within existing workflows, the Diana system cost-effectively keeps pharmacists and technicians in control of the compounding process from beginning to end. The system fits under the hood of a pharmacy's existing biological safety cabinet to protect clinicians from exposure to hazardous drugs and accidental needlesticks, while protecting the patient preparation from exposure to environmental contaminants.

The Diana system provides automated checks and reminders to improve workflow efficiency and patient safety, and frees up pharmacists and technicians from many of the repetitive motions required during preparation and reconstitution, reducing the stresses and injuries that can occur as a result. By helping improve the efficiency of high-volume compounding, the Diana system delivers workflow efficiencies while helping reduce drug waste.

Originally designed to keep clinicians safe from hazardous drug exposure during chemotherapy preparation, the microbiologically and mechanically closed Diana system also helps keep the drugs themselves safe from exposure to outside contaminants.^1,2  Organizations such as the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and the United States Pharmacopeia (USP <797>) have recommended the use of closed systems to help protect the healthcare worker from exposure to hazardous agents and to protect the sterility and integrity of drugs.^3,4

"We have been using the Diana system for a year and a half to work faster, safer, and more accurately with no risk of drug contamination thanks to the closed system components that are a part of the system," explained Birgit Tans, RPh, Chief Oncology Pharmacist at University Hospital in Leuven, Belgium. "Since we were already using the ICU Medical ChemoClave^TM system for manual compounding, it has been very easy to integrate the Diana system into our existing workflow to automate the process and maintain the same level of sterility of the preparation."

The Diana system was inspired by Dr. Diana Kostyra Lopez, the late wife of ICU Medical founder and CEO Dr. George "Doc" Lopez, who lost a valiant fight with cancer in 2006. During chemotherapy, Diana heard her nurses complain of a metallic taste in their mouths and discuss potential health hazards from exposure to chemotherapy drugs. She asked Doc to create a solution that would help keep clinicians safe from exposure, and the result is the ICU Medical line of needlefree oncology solutions, including the Diana system.

"Diana always cared more about others than she cared about herself," Doc explained. "When her oncology nurses told her about the symptoms they were experiencing as a result of exposure to chemotherapy drugs, she tugged at my sleeve, looked up at me and said 'fix it.' I always did whatever she told me to do."

1. ICU Medical Laboratory Study Summary: Spiros^®: Mechanically and Microbiologically Closed Male Luer
2. ICU Medical Laboratory Study Summary: Genie^®: Mechanically and Microbiologically Vial Access Device
3. NIOSH (US). Prevention of Occupational Exposure to Antineoplastics and Other Hazardous Drugs in Healthcare Settings. September 2004.
4. United States Pharmacopeia (USP) 797. Pharmaceutical Compounding, Sterile Preparations. 2007.

Note to Media: For photos and video of the Diana system, click here. (http://www.icumed.com/diana)

Contact: Tom McCall 
Vice President, Marketing
949-366-4368
[email protected]

About ICU Medical, Inc.: ICU Medical, Inc. develops, manufactures and sells innovative medical devices used in vascular therapy, oncology and critical care applications. ICU Medical's products improve patient outcomes by helping prevent bloodstream infections and protecting healthcare workers from exposure to infectious diseases or hazardous drugs. The company's complete product line includes custom IV systems, closed delivery systems for hazardous drugs, needlefree IV connectors, catheters and cardiac monitoring systems. ICU Medical is headquartered in San Clemente, California. More information about ICU Medical, Inc. can be found at www.icumed.com.

SOURCE ICU Medical, Inc.