August 28, 2020: Today Ambu Inc., announced today that it has been awarded a single-use endoscopy contract in the category of Surgical Disposable Scopes with Premier Inc., one of the largest performance improvement alliances of hospitals and healthcare systems in the U.S. In addition, Ambu was the only supplier of single-use endoscopes designated to participate in Premier’s SURPASS and ASCEND purchasing programs.
The three-year agreement creates a single-use endoscopy category specifically for the Premier membership and was signed this week, effective November 1, 2020. The partnership with Premier – whose members represent 4,100 hospital and health systems in the U.S. and 200,000 other providers – will further accelerate Ambu’s rapidly expanding share of the single-use endoscope market by giving those accounts pre-negotiated pricing and terms for Ambu’s full suite of endoscopy products.
Premier’s SURPASSTM program represents $8.4 billion in annual supply chain purchasing, with more than 30,000 acute care beds across 24 states and two U.S. territories. The ASCEND group purchasing program, meanwhile, is one of the nation’s largest committed purchasing programs with more than 120,000 acute care beds and a combined purchasing volume of more than $18 billion.
Boosting Ambu’s market share
Ninety-six percent of the top 500 bronchoscopy accounts in the U.S. are already using Ambu’s sterile, single-use bronchoscopes in the OR and ICU. Over the past twelve months, Ambu has increased its market share in these accounts and across all US hospitals, as the market continues to transition to single-use bronchoscopy.
This partnership with Premier will further boost Ambu’s market share by giving more accounts access to its full suite of single-use endoscopy products.
“The agreement allows Ambu to tap into a vast market of hospitals, health systems and healthcare providers across the U.S. with our single-use endoscopes,” said Juan Jose Gonzalez, CEO of Ambu A/S. “It strengthens our position in the U.S. and demonstrates the value of our portfolio in improving workflows and increasing patient safety. Premier is an exceptional company that we have known for years and we look forward to continue building our relationship with a company that is transforming the healthcare industry.”
Premier is highly regarded for its work driving efficiencies in hospitals and healthcare systems. Over the years, it has developed an alliance of more than 4,100 U.S. hospitals and health systems and over 200,000 other providers and organizations.
Ambu launched the world’s first single-use flexible bronchoscope, the Ambu® aScopeTM in 2009. In 2019, over 600,000 Ambu single-use endoscopes were used in more than 6,000 hospitals making Ambu the world’s largest supplier of single-use endoscopes. In 2020, Ambu expects to sell over 1 million single-use endoscopes.
Ambu received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in July 2020 for its single-use aScopeTM Duodeno, and the FDA cleared Ambu’s aScopeTM 4 Cysto in April 2020. By 2022, Ambu plans to introduce another 12 new devices across all major areas of endoscopy, including GI, the largest endoscopy market globally.