Tristel Regulatory News (TSTL)

Tristel plc

("Tristel" or "the Company")

AIM: TSTL

Licence to sell Stella decontamination system received in China

Tristel plc, the manufacturer of infection control, contamination control and hygiene products, announces that it has received the administrative licence that will enable the use of its Stella decontamination system in China.

Stella is a sophisticated micro-processor controlled tray in which medical instruments are immersed in Tristel's chlorine dioxide disinfectant. Hospitals can employ Stella at a fraction of the capital and running cost of the endoscope washers that are widely used as the only alternative to the age-old practice of placing instruments in a sink or simple plastic container.

Stella is particularly relevant to hospital departments such as urology, gynaecology, respiratory, cardiology and GI physiology. It deliberately cannot be used with the large flexible endoscopic instruments that are the focus of most of Tristel's competitors.

Tristel received regulatory approval for Stella last Autumn and the receipt of the licence enables its use by hospitals. The Company's China subsidiary, Shanghai Stella Medical Equipment Co. Ltd., has already appointed six distributors for the Stella system. These distributors purchased 30 Stella units between June and December 2010 for training and evaluation purposes. The Company has established its own sales force to sell directly in the Shanghai metropolitan area.

Outside of China, Tristel has sold 63 Stella units in the United Kingdom, Belgium, Spain, Ireland, Italy, Dubai, New Zealand and Germany. In a clinical study recently concluded Stella has been subjected to a randomised single-blind comparison with the world's leading brand of instrument disinfectant used in one of the most widely used endoscope washers. Stella's efficacy has been shown to be the equivalent of the process to which it was compared, but it produced vast savings in cost and process time. The study is anticipated to be published later this year.

Paul Swinney, Chief Executive of Tristel, said: "We have been eagerly awaiting receipt of this licence for many months because Stella sales in China had been forecast to be a major contributor to our top-line growth this year. Our team in Shanghai will now make every effort to close as much business as possible although our year end is approaching fast. We are confident that the market in China will play an important part in next year's business plan and to this end I am pleased to report that our Tristel Jet product for hard surface disinfection has also been approved by the regulatory body. We have now entered the administrative licence process for this product. Our Wipes System is also in the process of being presented for regulatory approval."