Zoll Receives Shonin Approval from Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare to Market the R Series Monitor/Defibrillator

CHELMSFORD, Mass.

ZOLL Medical Corporation, a manufacturer of medical devices and related software solutions, announced today that its Japanese subsidiary, Asahi Kasei ZOLL Medical (AZM), has received Shonin approval from the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare to enter the Japanese market with its R Series^® Monitor/Defibrillator.

AZM, a ZOLL company established two years ago to pursue the regulatory approval, sale, and marketing of ZOLL products in Japan, will begin marketing and selling the R Series in early 2015. The market-leading R Series in U.S. hospitals goes beyond defibrillation and incorporates a complete suite of tools to assist with the delivery of high-quality CPR, now recognized as the single most important factor driving survival from cardiac arrest¹.

The R Series Code-Ready^® units are designed to assist personnel in delivering “Simple, Smart, and Ready” resuscitation to every hospital department. The R Series offers rescuers a CPR Dashboard^™ to monitor depth, rate, release, and perfusion as well as audible prompts for depth and rate. In addition a See-Thru CPR^® filter removes CPR artifact and enables rescuers to see the underlying rhythm, reducing the duration of pauses. Because less than 25% of in-hospital patients in cardiac arrest have shockable rhythms², the ability to deliver high-quality CPR is critical to survival.

“We are very excited to introduce the market-leading R Series to Japan and to continue to offer innovative technologies and devices for acute critical care to this major market,” said Jonathan A. Rennert, President of ZOLL.

“Since defibrillators are widely distributed throughout hospitals, and their use is both infrequent and extremely critical, code readiness helps clinicians save more lives,” he said. “By granting Shonin approval, the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare now makes the R Series available to clinicians throughout Japan.”

About ZOLL Medical Corporation

ZOLL Medical Corporation, an Asahi Kasei Group company, develops and markets medical devices and software solutions that help advance emergency care and save lives, while increasing clinical and operational efficiencies. With products for defibrillation and monitoring, circulation and CPR feedback, data management, fluid resuscitation, and therapeutic temperature management, ZOLL provides a comprehensive set of technologies that help clinicians, EMS and fire professionals, and lay rescuers treat victims needing resuscitation and acute critical care. For more information, visit www.zoll.com.

About Asahi Kasei

The Asahi Kasei Group is a diversified group of companies led by holding company Asahi Kasei Corp., with operations in the chemicals and fibers, homes and construction materials, electronics, and health care business sectors. Its health care operations include devices and systems for acute critical care, dialysis, therapeutic apheresis, transfusion, and manufacture of biotherapeutics, as well as pharmaceuticals, diagnostic reagents, and nutritional products. With more than 29,000 employees around the world, the Asahi Kasei Group serves customers in more than 100 countries. For more information, visit www.asahi-kasei.co.jp/asahi/en/.

¹Meaney PA, et al. Circulation. 2013 Jul 23;128(4):417–35. Epub 2013 Jun 25.

²Chen L et al. Association Between a Hospital’s Rate of Cardiac Arrest Incidence and Cardiac Arrest Survival. JAMA Internal Medicine 2013 Jul 8;173:13:1186-1194.

Copyright © 2014 ZOLL Medical Corporation. All rights reserved. Code-Ready, CPR Dashboard, R Series, See-Thru CPR, and ZOLL are trademarks or registered trademarks of ZOLL Medical Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Asahi Kasei is a registered trademark of Asahi Kasei Corporation. All other product names are the property of their respective owners.