Unilife Medical Solutions Ltd. (PINK:UNIFF) develops and supplies innovative safety medical devices to healthcare and pharmaceutical markets. Unilife is targeting pharmaceutical markets for ready to fill (prefilled) safety syringes as well as healthcare markets that mandate the use of sharps safety devices to prevent needlestick injuries. The Company has developed a patent-protected portfolio of safety syringes, with product lines including Unifill™ (formerly referred to as the Unilife Ready-to-Fill Syringe), Unitract™ 1mL Insulin and Safe Syringes, Unitract™ Clinical Range, and a new prefilled syringe, Unifill™ Select, for which the Company filed US Patent applications in late 2009. The key distinctive feature in all of Unilife’s safety syringes is that the operator may control the speed of automatic needle retraction within a fully integrated safety syringe. This novel combination of safety features, which Unilife does not believe is available with any other technology on the market today, can virtually eliminate the risk of acquiring bloodborne infections, such as the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or hepatitis C, via needlestick injuries or aerosol (blood splatter). In July 2008, sanofi-aventis SA (SNY-NYSE)—the world’s fourth largest pharmaceutical group and largest purchaser of prefilled syringes—signed an Exclusive Agreement with Unilife, in which sanofi-aventis paid US$13.9 million (€10 million) for the right to negotiate the purchase of the Unifill™ Syringe for five years. Sanofi-aventis is also financing Unilife’s industrialization program for Unifill™, which could total up to US$23.6 million (€17 million). Unilife believes this alliance validates its technology and competency in developing and operating automated assembly systems.
