LINKOPING, Sweden, Oct. 28, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- The Swedish IT and medical technology company Sectra (Other OTC:SSBBF) (Stockholm:SECTb) continues its international expansion by opening an office in the U.K. The background is the growing demand from British hospitals for IT support to process digital radiology images, which is a result of the British government's increased focus on health and medical care. Great Britain is also a potential future market for Sectra's digital mammography system.
"Establishing an U.K. office is a natural step in our international expansion," said Torbjorn Kronander, President of Sectra Imtec AB. "The British market for IT support in the medical-care sector is growing strongly and many hospitals are currently planning to digitize their radiology operations. To cope with the increased demand, we need to have our own personnel in place to handle local contacts with partners and end customers."
Sectra has already installed its Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS) at a number of U.K. hospitals in collaboration with Philips Medical Systems. Sales in Great Britain will continue to be handled through partners.
"In Great Britain, there is a very strong commitment to offer mammography examinations to women," Torbjorn Kronander continued. "We see Great Britain as a significant potential market for our new digital mammography system, Sectra MicroDose Mammography(TM)".
Sectra already has sales offices in Sweden, the USA, Germany, Italy, Denmark and Norway.
Sectra is one of today's major PACS providers with more than 300 PACS installations worldwide. The Swedish based company operates through partners in most of the world, but delivers directly to end customers in Northern Europe. The core business is to deliver top-of-the-line high- availability, robust enterprise PACS for 24/7 operation. In Sweden and Norway, which are currently the countries with the largest penetration of PACS in the world, Sectra holds a dominant market leadership with more than 50% of all film free installations. The company has its largest number of installed systems in Sweden, Norway and the U.S. (through partners), but has also an installed base in Germany, Finland, U.K., Italy, Spain, The Netherlands, Turkey, Portugal, Switzerland and the Far East.
For further information, please contact:
Sectra Imtec AB Torbjorn Kronander, President +46 705 23 52 27 to-kro@sectra.se or Sectra AB Jan-Olof Bruer, President and CEO +46 13 23 52 09 job@sectra.se
Visit our website http://www.sectra.com
Sectra's operations
Sectra has its roots in Linkoping Technical University and is one of Sweden's fastest growing high-tech companies in the IT area. Since the mid-1980s, Sectra has successfully conducted development and sales of high-technology medical IT and telecommunications products. Today, the business includes products in medical systems, secure communication systems and wireless information systems.
Sectra's medical business is conducted in Sectra Imtec AB, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sectra AB. Internationally, Sectra PACS is marketed and sold through different partners. Sectra MicroDose Mammography(TM) is developed in partnership with Mamea Imaging AB.
Business is conducted in six countries with a total of 250 employees. Sales for the fiscal year May 2001-April 2002 reached SEK 426 million. Since March 1999, Sectra's shares have been quoted on the O list of the Stockholm Exchange.
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