Hospira Announces New Contracts With Premier Purchasing Partners for Infusion Devices, Solutions And Equipment

    LAKE FOREST, Ill., Aug. 21 /EMWNews/ -- Hospira, Inc.

(NYSE: HSP), a global specialty pharmaceutical and medication delivery

company, today announced new national agreements with Premier Purchasing

Partners. The multi-year contracts will provide Premier's 2,000 member

hospitals with access to special pricing and terms pre-negotiated by

Premier for Hospira's general-purpose medication infusion devices, related

sets and disposables, along with intravenous (I.V.) solutions,

nutritionals, drug-delivery and gravity administration sets. The five-year

Premier agreements will be effective February 1, 2009.



    "Premier shares our commitment to improving patient and caregiver

safety, while reducing the high costs of healthcare," said Pete Baker, vice

president and general manager, Commercial Service Operations, Hospira.

"Hospira products and services are well positioned to deliver positive

results in these critical areas for the Premier membership. We look forward

to collaborating with Premier's member healthcare institutions to provide

innovative solutions and drive results."



    The new agreements include Hospira's general-purpose medication

management technologies, such as the Plum A+(R) and next-generation

Symbiq(R) infusion systems with Hospira MedNet(R) safety software; and pain

management pumps, such as LifeCare PCA(R) with Hospira MedNet and

GemStar(R) ambulatory devices. These products play a critical role in

improving patient safety as well as enhancing quality of care and clinician

workflow. Also covered within the agreement is access to contracts for

Hospira's I.V. solutions and associated equipment portfolio, including the

company's environmentally preferable VisIV(R) container. This represents

the first opportunity for Hospira to offer these full product lines to

Premier member healthcare institutions on contract.

    About Premier Inc., 2006 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award

recipient



    Serving more than 2,000 U.S. hospitals and 53,000-plus other healthcare

sites, the Premier healthcare alliance and its members are transforming

healthcare together. Owned by not-for-profit hospitals, Premier operates

one of the leading healthcare purchasing networks and the nation's most

comprehensive repository of hospital clinical and financial information. A

subsidiary operates one of the nation's largest policy-holder owned,

hospital professional liability risk-retention groups. A world leader in

helping healthcare providers deliver dramatic improvements in care, Premier

is working with the United Kingdom's National Health Service North West and

the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to improve hospital

performance. Headquartered in San Diego, Premier has offices in Charlotte,

N.C., Philadelphia and Washington. For more information, visit

http://www.premierinc.com.



    About Hospira



    Hospira, Inc. is a global specialty pharmaceutical and medication

delivery company dedicated to Advancing Wellness(TM). As the world leader

in specialty generic injectable pharmaceuticals, Hospira offers one of the

broadest portfolios of generic acute-care and oncology injectables, as well

as integrated infusion therapy and medication management solutions. Through

its products, Hospira helps improve the safety, cost and productivity of

patient care. The company is headquartered in Lake Forest, Ill., and has

more than 14,000 employees. Learn more at http://www.hospira.com.