A Medical Device Daily
First Consulting Group (FCG; Long Beach, California) reported that New York Blood Center (NYBC) has extended its outsourcing contract with FCG for an additional three years, through April 2010. The new 38-month contract has a value of about $15 million. FCG said.
NYBC is the nation's largest independent blood distribution and services organization, providing nearly 10% of the national supply of blood products. FCG will continue to manage and operate the information technology functions for NYBC as it has for the last six years.
"During the past six years, FCG has managed our IT operations, providing innovative technology skills and solutions to NYBC in support of our mission to deliver the highest-quality transfusion products and services, as well as support leading-edge research, technological and medical care innovation, and education in the field of transfusion medicine," said Jay Valinsky, PhD, VP for information and technology for NYBC. "Our experience with FCG has enabled us to transform the quality of our operations and to significantly improve our services and operational efficiencies."
FCG is a provider of outsourcing, consulting, systems implementation and integration for healthcare, pharmaceutical, and other life sciences organizations throughout North America, Europe and Asia.
In other contract news:
• StatSure Diagnostic Systems (SSUR; Framingham, Massachusetts) reported receipt of an order for 500,000 units of its saliva collection devices from Diagnostic Technologies Corporation (DTC; London). The collectors are scheduled to be delivered during the current year.
DTC markets and sells these products in England under the brand name Omnisal. SSUR's devices are sold for a number of applications including use by the British Home Office in police precincts throughout England for on-site sample collection of saliva to test for the presence of certain drugs of abuse.
The StatSure product is patented and has an internal sample volume adequacy indicator; in addition, its design eliminates the requirement for a centrifuge extraction step of the absorbed sample. SSUR has recently applied for two new patents on this collector as well.