N E W S   R E L E A S E

For Information Contact:
Joni Morford, Communicore
714/721-8081
jmorford@communicore.com


JOHNSON & JOHNSON'S ADVANCED STERILIZATION PRODUCTS (ASP)
FORMS EXCLUSIVE AGREEMENT WITH AMERINET, INC.


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE.....June 3, 1996.....Irvine, Calif.....Advanced Sterilization 
Products (ASP), a member of Johnson & Johnson's family of companies and 
manufacturer of the STERRAD¨ Sterilization System for medical and surgical 
instruments, today announced that the company has established an exclusive two-year 
contract valued at more than $57 million with Amerinet, Inc., of St. Louis.

Effectively immediately, Amerinet, the nation's largest group purchasing organization, 
has agreed to establish ASP as its sole provider of technologies for low-temperature gas 
plasma sterilization applications.  With the signing of this agreement, ASP now has 
exclusive contracts totaling more than $350 million with seven of the largest healthcare 
purchasing groups in the United States, including Columbia/HCA, American 
Healthcare Systems (AmHS), SunHealth, and Health Services Corporation of America 
(HSCA).  These groups represent more than 4,200 hospitals nationwide--nearly all 
hospitals performing surgery in the United States.

According to Ted Toch, vice president of marketing and sales at ASP, the new 
agreement reinforces the STERRAD System's established leadership position as the low-
temperature sterilization alternative to ethylene oxide (EtO), and will allow ASP to 
build on the more than 1,200 STERRAD units it has sold worldwide in the three years 
since the product was cleared for marketing in the United States.  

"This is a significant contract for us," Toch said.  "We are pleased that ASP continues to 
be recognized by major healthcare purchasing organizations as the industry leader in 
low-temperature gas plasma sterilization."

The STERRAD Sterilization System is a medical sterilizer based on a patented process 
involving the generation of a low-temperature gas plasma from hydrogen peroxide.  
Results from laboratory tests, required of the system to receive marketing clearance 
from the United States Food and Drug Administration, demonstrate the technology's 
efficacy in destroying a broad spectrum of microorganisms on medical and surgical 
instruments.  In contrast to EtO, the STERRAD System does not leave toxic residues on 
surgical instruments and equipment, eliminating the need for a lengthy aeration phase, 
and sterile instruments may be used immediately following the 75-minute sterilization 
cycle.  The system is safe for healthcare workers, patients, and the environment--no 
vents, drains, monitors, or protective garments are required.  

Advanced Sterilization Products (ASP), a division of Johnson & Johnson Medical, Inc., 
manufactures and markets innovative sterilization technologies and products that 
provide safe, effective, and economically sound solutions for the needs of healthcare 
providers.  The company is based in Irvine, Calif.


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