Banfield, The Pet Hospital, The Nation's Largest Private Veterinary Practice, Partners with Abbott Laboratories to Provide Human-Quality Anesthetic Agents Throughout Practice.

Health/Medical Writers

PORTLAND, Ore.--(BW HealthWire)--Feb. 26, 2001

Banfield, The Pet Hospital, a family-pet-bond centered practice providing care in over 400 locations in 38 states, has announced a significant partnership with Abbott Laboratories, the leader in human and animal anesthetics.

After an extensive and heavily monitored internal clinical trial, Banfield has made the decision to use SevoFlo (sevoflurane) and Propoflo (propofol) exclusively as its standard anesthetic agents in all procedures requiring general anesthesia. Banfield is the largest veterinary practice in the world, caring for approximately 50,000 pets per week.

"A guiding principle of our practice is giving pets the same care we want for ourselves," said Scott Campbell, DVM, Banfield's Chairman and CEO. "Partnering with Abbott, one of the leaders in human healthcare, helps us do that even

better."

SevoFlo (sevoflurane) -- the most recent innovation in approved veterinary inhalation agents -- is the most common anesthetic gas used in human medicine, with approximately 48% market share (though it currently accounts for less than 2% of the veterinary market for anesthesia).

"When used together, SevoFlo and Propoflo are metabolized very quickly," said William Novak DVM, ABVP, Banfield's Vice President for Medical Development. "This results in much safer anesthesia for pets."

"This agreement will improve the already high quality of care we provide to our patients, and the partnership with Abbott will ensure that we implement this change effectively to all of our full-service hospitals," said Dr. Campbell. "We are certain that the quality of care provided by this product will make life better for our patients and their families, while meeting the expectations of our veterinarians to provide human-quality care."

"Abbott respects and values the high standards of care employed by Banfield in its practice," said Chris Kolber, Division Vice President of Abbott, who accompanied several of his colleagues to Portland on Feb. 8 to meet with Banfield's leadership and to finalize the agreement.

Abbott Laboratories is a global, diversified health care company devoted to the discovery, development, manufacture and marketing of pharmaceutical, diagnostic, nutritional and hospital products. Abbott Laboratories Animal Health is a leading provider of perioperative health care products for the veterinary market. More technical information about SevoFlo and Propoflo can be accessed at: http://www.abbott.com/animal_health/animal_health.html

Banfield, The Pet Hospital, is a national practice led by veterinarians, based in Portland, Oregon. Banfield's teams helped more than a million pets last year. It is located on the web at http://www.banfield.net.

For more information about this announcement, or to arrange for an interview with representatives from either Abbott or Banfield, please contact Jeff Muir, Public Relations Specialist, at 503/345-5124 or via email at [e-mail].