HealthCare Purchasing Partners International(TM) Adds GlaxoSmithKline to the 340B Prime Vendor Program, Providing Low-Income Americans With Access to Vaccines

IRVING, TX -- 04/26/2005 -- HealthCare Purchasing Partners International™ (HPPI) announced that it has added the global pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline to its growing list of companies providing drugs, supplies and medical devices to clinics, hospitals and health care programs for low-income Americans. HPPI’s three-year contract with GlaxoSmithKline began March 15, 2005.

HPPI, a group purchasing organization co-owned by VHA Inc. and the University HealthSystem Consortium, signed GlaxoSmithKline to the federal program that HPPI manages. The program, known as the 340B Prime Vendor Program, provides deep discounts on outpatient drug purchases to public hospitals, community health centers, clinics, state-operated AIDS drug assistance programs and other safety-net health care providers serving low-income and uninsured patients.

GlaxoSmithKline has made all of its vaccines available to Prime Vendor Program participants as a value-added service at Centers for Disease Control (CDC) level pricing as a value-added service, which will provide significant discounts for those who offer GSK vaccines through their outpatient programs.

“The goal of the Prime Vendor Program is to expand and ensure access to life-saving medicines and vaccines,” said Chris Hatwig, senior director of the Prime Vendor Program for HPPI. “Such access is critically important to patients, and we’re pleased to partner with GlaxoSmithKline to make some of their key products available to these patients.”

The Prime Vendor Program was established to increase the discounts already offered under Section 340B of the U.S. Public Health Service Act. HPPI was selected from competing GPOs and other companies to administer the program. Hatwig said that 11,800 providers across the country qualify to participate in the discount program at no cost, and more than 1,000 facilities are currently enrolled.

“GlaxoSmithKline is proud to be a part of the Prime Vendor Program,” said David M. Pernock, senior vice president Pharmaceuticals, Philadelphia & Vaccines, GlaxoSmithKline. “This partnership further demonstrates GSK’s commitment to ensuring that patients in need have access to important vaccines.”

About HPPI

HealthCare Purchasing Partners International (HPPI) is an Irving, Texas-based health care group purchasing organization serving more than 8,000 health care organizations across the nation. HPPI members used its contracts to purchase more than $2.2 billion in supplies in 2003. HPPI is owned by VHA Inc., a national health care cooperative, and the University HealthSystem Consortium (UHC), an alliance of academic medical centers. HPPI was formed by VHA and UHC to serve health care organizations that do not belong to either VHA or UHC.

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HealthCare Purchasing Partners International

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