Under the new agreement, both companies signed to final manufacturing prototyping, the production of multicavity injection moulds, preparation of an FDA 510(k) submission, and an initial run of ten million Maxxon safety syringes.
While Maxxon claims that, after the initial run of ten million safety syringes, the costs for a minimum order of one million safety syringes will be substantially less than the current market costs for retractable safety syringes, the project does in fact depend on Maxxon raising $1.4 million, of which 50 per cent will be due when the project begins, 25 per cent will be due upon receipt of FDA approval for the syringe, and 25 per cent will be due after receiving the syringes.
'Globe's production capacity for Maxxon's retractable safety syringe from one set of moulds will be two million safety syringes per month,' said Maxxon in a statement this week. Globe estimates that production moulds will be completed six-eight weeks after the project begins.
Maxxon's safety syringe is a single-handed, vacuum-operated safety syringe that retracts the used needle into the barrel of the syringe after use.
The company is keen to get a slice of the growing safety needles and syringes market in the US. According to a recent Frost & Sullivan report the safety needles and syringes market represents a large and growing segment of the healthcare industry. In 1999, total sales of needles and syringes in the US reached $759 million. This figure is expected to increase to $1.05 billion by 2006. The market for safety needles and syringes is expected to grow from 23 per cent in 1999 to a massive 66 per cent in 2006 of the total needles and syringes market.