Kimberly-Clark Health Care and 3M Announce U.S.-Based Infection Prevention Solutions Agreement

Collaboration combines Kimberly-Clark's operating room expertise and 3M's innovative solutions to deliver exceptional surgical and infection prevention portfolio offering

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Kimberly-Clark Health Care

Mar 17, 2014, 09:00 ET

ROSWELL, Ga. and ST. PAUL, Minn., March 17, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Kimberly-Clark Health Care and 3M Infection Prevention Division today announced a unique alliance to deliver best-in-class surgical and infection prevention solutions to hospitals and healthcare facilities in the U.S.

"At Kimberly-Clark, we have long admired 3M's track record of innovation. This relationship presents the opportunity to offer a more extensive surgical product portfolio with the latest healthcare technology to help customers tackle their foremost challenges including infection prevention and hospital readmissions," said Chris Lowery, Global VP, Health Care Sales & Marketing, Kimberly-Clark. "Together, Kimberly-Clark and 3M will leverage our respective expertise to bring forward solutions that address our customers' most critical needs in the operating room."

"Kimberly-Clark offers tremendous experience and long-standing relationships built around a consultative approach in the operating room and we are thrilled to work together. 3M's history of innovative products, paired with Kimberly-Clark's expertise, will create an exceptional offering for our healthcare customers," added Silvia Perez, Global Business Vice President, Infection Prevention Division, 3M. "By working with a like-minded company equally committed to addressing current healthcare challenges, we are harnessing our collective capabilities to improve surgical outcomes."

With the launch of the collaboration, Kimberly-Clark Health Care will offer 3M™ Steri-Drape™ fabric and plastic specialty drapes, featuring drapes with and without 3M™ Ioban™ 2 Antimicrobial Incise Film, which provides excellent adhesion throughout the surgical site and helps reduce the risk of wound contamination. The addition of the 3M drape line rounds out Kimberly-Clark Health Care's surgical and infection prevention offering. All 3M Steri-Drape surgical drapes will be available through the same distribution and surgical pack manufacturing channels as they are today.

About 3M
3M captures the spark of new ideas and transforms them into thousands of ingenious products. Its culture of creative collaboration inspires a never-ending stream of powerful technologies that make life better. 3M is the innovation company that never stops inventing. With $31 billion in sales, 3M employs 89,000 people worldwide and has operations in more than 70 countries. For more information, visit www.3M.com or follow @3MNews on Twitter.

About 3M Health Care
3M Health Care offers solutions in the medical, oral care, drug delivery, food safety and health information markets. We have an unparalleled ability to connect people, insights, science and technology to think beyond today, solve problems, and make better health possible. Our culture of collaboration empowers us to discover and deliver practical, proven solutions that enable our customers to protect and improve the health of people around the world.

About Kimberly-Clark
Kimberly-Clark Corp. (NYSE: KMB) and its well-known global brands are an indispensable part of life for people in more than 175 countries. Every day, nearly a quarter of the world's population trust K-C's brands and the solutions they provide to enhance their health, hygiene and well-being. With brands such as Kleenex^®, Scott^®, Huggies^®, Pull-Ups^®, Kotex^® and Depend^®, Kimberly-Clark holds the No. 1 or No. 2 share position in more than 80 countries. To keep up with the latest K-C news and to learn more about the Company's 142-year history of innovation, visit www.kimberly-clark.com or follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

Kimberly-Clark in the Healthcare Environment
Around the world, medical professionals turn to Kimberly-Clark for a wide portfolio of solutions that improve the health, hygiene and well-being of their patients and staff. As part of their healing mission, caregivers rely on Kimberly-Clark to deliver clinical solutions, hygiene & cleaning offerings, and educational resources that they can depend on to prevent, diagnose and manage a wide variety of healthcare-associated infections. A global enterprise of more than $1 billion, Kimberly-Clark Health Care holds the No. 1 or No. 2 market share position in several categories, including infection control solutions, surgical solutions, pain management, hygiene solutions, digestive health and respiratory health. And throughout the care continuum, patients and staff alike trust Kimberly-Clark medical supplies and devices, KLEENEX^® tissues, KLEENEX^® & SCOTT^® skin care products and SCOTT^® towels for day-to-day needs. For more information, visit http://www.kchealthcare.com and http://www.kcprofessional.com.