Equashield and Svas Biosana Propel CSTD Growth in Italy

PORT WASHINGTON, New York, February 13, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

Equashield (http://www.equashield.com), a leading provider of Closed System Transfer Devices (CSTDs) for hazardous drugs, announced today that its Italian distributor, Svas Biosana, has increased Equashield's CSTD penetration in Italian hospitals. Since entering into partnership, Svas Biosana has transitioned many major Italian hospitals to Equashield's CSTD, including: Ospedale S.Camillo Roma, Ospedale S.Eugenio Roma, Ospedale Civico di Palermo and Ospedale SS.Annunziata Chieti.

"Over the past five years, we've embarked on a campaign to educate the Italian market on the benefits of using a truly closed system to protect healthcare professionals from the dangers of hazardous drug exposure," said Meralda Talamo, product manager of Svas Biosana. "In doing so, hospital decision-makers have realized that filter-based systems do not adequately meet the stipulations of current occupational safety standards."

Equashield's CSTD has seen a steady increase in adoption among hospitals utilizing CSTDs. This growth stems, in part, from Italian general legislation decree 81, instituted in 2008, which requires employers to provide the necessary conditions and tools to ensure the occupational health and safety of workers,^[1] with Directive 98/24/EC on chemical agents at work, stating, "Exposure of workers to chemical agents must be prevented, via single [use] closed systems."^[2]

Additionally, the Italian Society of Hospital Pharmacy (SIFO) states that CSTD use is required for the transfer, preparation and administration of hazardous drugs.^[3] SIFO defines closed systems in line with the current US-based NIOSH definition as "drug transfer device[s] that mechanically prohibit the transfer of environmental contaminants into the system and the escape of hazardous drug or vapor concentrations outside the system."

"With CSTD implementation supported by government regulation, Italy is now a leader of safe handling best practices in the region," said Adi Shor, VP of Sales ROW for Equashield. "We are confident that our trusted partner, Svas Biosana, will continue its work in educating the market so healthcare professionals handling hazardous drugs receive the highest levels of protection from the dangers of hazardous drug exposure."

About Equashield  

Equashield is a leading provider of a full range of manual and automated solutions to hospitals for the compounding and administration of hazardous drugs. Equashield's product suite includes EQUASHIELD II, its flagship Closed System Transfer Device (CSTD), and EQUASHIELD® Pro, the first ever closed system drug compounding robot. Equashield's CSTD is clinically-proven to protect healthcare professionals from hazardous drug exposure. The globally awarded EQUASHIELD^® II covers more routes of exposure than alternative systems by preventing contamination of syringe plungers and drug residuals on connector surfaces, as well as exposure to drug vapors. Studies have shown Equashield's CSTD to be faster to deploy and easier to use than competing systems, and the system has passed the proposed 2015 alcohol vapor containment protocol from NIOSH, confirming that it can contain the harshest vapors & emissions. EQUASHIELD is in use by hundreds of hospitals and clinics around the world, and has been both cleared by the FDA under the ONB product code, and substantiated in FDA-cleared labeling as preventing microbial ingress for up to seven days. 

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For more information: http://www.equashield.com

1. Legislative decree no. 81, April 9th 2008, Implementation of the Article 1 of the Act no. 123, August 3rd, 2007, concerning the protection of health and safety at workplaces (Italian).
2. COWI, Evaluation of the EU Occupational Safety and Health Directives: Country Summary Report for Italy, November 2015.
3. Società Italiana di Farmacia Ospedaliera e dei Servizi Farmaceutici delle Aziende Sanitarie, Linee di indirizzo tecnico: La tutela dell'operatore sanitario a rischio di esposizione ai farmaci antiblastici

Media Contact:
Finn Partners for Equashield
Nicole Grubner
[email protected]
@nicolegrubner
+1-929-222-8011

SOURCE Equashield