(Fort Worth, TX) — HEALTHPOINT®, Ltd., a DFB Pharmaceuticals company and Texas-based market leader in surgical, tissue management, and dermatology products, introduced the first water-optional healthcare personnel handwash designed for use with or without water at the June 8, 2003 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) annual meeting in San Antonio.

        Called TRISEPTIN® Water-Optional, the breakthrough product has shown outstanding performance compared to other waterless and water-aided healthcare personnel handwash products, using the FDA’s Tentative Final Monograph for Healthcare Antiseptic Drug Products in vivo testing criteria for healthcare personnel handwash.

        One such criterion, according to Lawton Seal, PhD, is efficacy. “TRISEPTIN Water Optional is at least 70 times more effective than a traditional 61 percent ethyl alcohol formulation at the wash 10 test point,” said Dr. Seal. “Based on our literature review and the testing performed at a third party, FDA-approved laboratory, TRISEPTIN is the first traditional alcohol-based product to meet the FDA’s TFM in vivo testing requirements,” he added.

        Dr. Seal is Senior Program Manager at HEALTHPOINT, where he has continued a career of more than twenty years in infectious disease research.

        TRISEPTIN Water-Optional contains a 61 percent ethyl alcohol active ingredients with a preservative for persistence in an emollient-rich formulation. The formulation allows healthcare personnel the convenience of being able to utilize the product with water to remove dirt, debris, and proteinaceous material, or waterless to quickly disinfect hands between patient contact.

        Based on HEALTHPOINT’s patented Trizenol™ antisepsis technology used in operating rooms across the country, TRISEPTIN Water-Optional is designed for use by hospital personnel when caring for patients and washing hands throughout their shifts. It is the latest development in the series of innovative products that includes TRISEPTIN® Water-Aided, the first brush-free alcohol-based surgical scrub on the U.S. market, and TRISEPTIN Waterless, an emollient-rich waterless scrub with persistence.

        “ TRISEPTIN Water-Optional represents a remarkable advance in healthcare antiseptic handwash development,” said Shawn Gentry, Marketing Director for HEALTHPOINT Surgical. “Healthcare providers will now be able to standardize, using one product for their hand hygiene needs.”

        “ The product has been formulated with nine different emollients, moisturizers, and humectants, thus helping to maintain the users skin integrity and reduce skin drying issues associated with the routine use of traditional waterless alcohol formulations,” Dr. Seal explained.

        Standardizing with one product should help drive user compliance due to the added convenience of having one product that can be used with water to remove visible dirt and debris or without water as a means for quick disinfection between routine patient contact.

        “ In today’s cost conscious healthcare environment, offering a facility the ability to standardize with one product for its hand hygiene needs should decrease supply chain management expenses which include procuring, stocking, and maintaining multiple products,” said Mr. Gentry. “Now the healthcare provider can use one product, with one proven technology, to help fight the more than two million nosocomial infections that occur yearly, nationwide.”

        TRISEPTIN Water-Optional is available in a 2 oz. personal size and a 16 oz. hand pump bottle.

        Since its inception in 1992, HEALTHPOINT has established a U.S. presence in the research, development, and marketing of branded pharmaceuticals, over the counter drugs, and medical devices for tissue management, dermatology, and surgical applications. An aggressive research and development effort has brought HEALTHPOINT's unique technologies to the market, setting the pace for its highly trained field sales organization of direct sales representatives. HEALTHPOINT, with over 250 employees, is a DFB Pharmaceuticals, Inc. affiliate company. Visit HEALTHPOINT on the web at: www.HEALTHPOINT.com.

        With offices in Fort Worth and San Antonio, DFB Pharmaceuticals provides technology-driven products, outsourcing services and licensing opportunities to the healthcare industry worldwide through its affiliate companies, contract partners, and branded marketing organizations. Visit DFB on the web at www.DFB.com.

        DPT Laboratories, the manufacturer of the Trizenol line and also a DFB affiliate, is also based in San Antonio. Visit DPT on the web at www.DPTLabs.com.

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