Center Utilizes New, Advanced Simulated 'Patients'
WARSAW, Ind., June 15, 2006 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX News Network/ -- Zimmer Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: ZMH; SWX: ZMH), a worldwide leader in the orthopaedics industry, announced today that its Zimmer Dental division has opened its Zimmer Institute professional training facility. This new Zimmer Institute will be a specialized center dedicated to helping clinicians further the knowledge, skills, and confidence essential for the practice of contemporary implant dentistry.
"One of our core strategies at Zimmer is 'value-added education,' and this is another expression of our determination to differentiate Zimmer on the basis of our ability to provide dynamic professional training," said Ray Elliott, Zimmer Chairman, President and CEO. "We have Zimmer Institute locations all around the world supporting our leadership in minimally invasive orthopaedics. With this milestone, we can deliver advanced dental implantology training utilizing simulated patients with life-like soft tissue and bone."
The Institute is located in Carlsbad, California, 30 miles north of San Diego, and will offer four distinct levels of instruction. Developed and presented by outstanding university faculty and private practitioners from around the world, Zimmer Institute programs will provide both general practitioners and specialists with educational experiences for learning implant dentistry techniques.
According to the Company, the surgical mannequins developed for The Zimmer Institute represent a significant advance beyond anything ever used in dental teaching venues. These simulated "patients," or mannequins, are the result of years of research and refinement to closely approximate natural human anatomy. They feature soft tissue and simulated "bone" with both cortical and cancellous layers. The mannequins have life-like tissues to provide a realistic setting for sinus grafts and the nerve bundles in the lower mandible are "wired" to let the clinician know if he has prepared the implant site within the anatomical requirements. The Zimmer Institute teaching laboratory will include 26 stations with these simulated patients where participants will experience an unprecedented level of hands-on instruction, according to the Company.
About the Company
Founded in 1927 and headquartered in Warsaw, Indiana, Zimmer is the worldwide #1 pure-play orthopaedic leader in designing, developing, manufacturing and marketing reconstructive and spinal implants, trauma and related orthopaedic surgical products. Zimmer has operations in more than 24 countries around the world and sells products in more than 100 countries. Zimmer's 2005 sales were approximately $3.3 billion. The Company is supported by the efforts of more than 6,700 employees worldwide.
Zimmer Dental is a California-based operation. The company, which started in 1981, offers one of the most comprehensive dental implant product lines available. Zimmer Dental is a market leader in the development of world-class implantology products, practice-building strategies and educational programs focused on empowering clinicians and improving patients' lives. Visit Zimmer Dental on the worldwide web at http://www.zimmerdental.com or call 1 (800) 854-7019, or, for outside the U.S., 1 (760) 929-4300, for more information.
Visit Zimmer on the worldwide web at http://www.zimmer.com
Zimmer Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 based on current expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections about the orthopaedics industry, management's beliefs and assumptions made by management. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of forward-looking terms such as "may," "will," "expects," "believes," "anticipates," "plans," "estimates," "projects," "assumes," "guides," "targets," "forecasts," and "seeks" or the negative of such terms or other variations on such terms or comparable terminology. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, our ability to successfully integrate Centerpulse AG and Implex Corp., the outcome of the Department of Justice investigation announced in March 2005, price and product competition, rapid technological development, demographic changes, dependence on new product development, the mix of our products and services, supply and prices of raw materials and products, customer demand for our products and services, control of costs and expenses, our ability to form and implement alliances, international growth, governmental laws and regulations affecting our U.S. and international businesses, including tax obligations and risks, product liability and intellectual property litigation losses, reimbursement levels from third-party payors, general industry and market conditions and growth rates and general domestic and international economic conditions including interest rate and currency exchange rate fluctuations. For a further list and description of such risks and uncertainties, see the disclosure materials filed by Zimmer with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Zimmer disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Readers of this document are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, since, while we believe the assumptions on which the forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, there can be no assurance that these forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate. This cautionary statement is applicable to all forward-looking statements contained in this document.
SOURCE Zimmer Holdings, Inc.
Media: Brad Bishop, +1-574-372-4291, [email protected] , Investors: Sean
O'Hara, +1-574-371-8032, [email protected] , or Sam Leno, +1-574-372-4790,
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