Manrex President Becomes President of Children's Hospital Foundation of Manitoba
September 2006

President's Message

It was an honour to assume the position as President of the Board of Directors this past spring. Since I first joined the Children's Hospital Foundation Board in 2001, we have made great strides in making specialized health needs of children a priority in the community. I look forward to leading a dedicated and enthusiastic team of Board Members and staff into the future as we continue to make miracles happen for sick kids.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Meredith McArthur for her term as President. I look forward to working with her as she continues her involvement with the Foundation.

We had a busy season of events and activities at the Foundation over the summer. The 20th Annual Teddy Bears' Picnic was attended by hardy Winnipeggers who enjoyed fabulous main stage performances and numerous other fun activities - without line-ups! Special thanks to all the organizers, sponsors, and volunteers who made this a great event, weather challenges and all!

Golf season saw numerous tournaments in support of the Children's Hospital. Read all about the Dr. Goodbear Golf Classic and the Keith Tkachuk Miracle Golf Classic in this issue. My sincerest thanks to Keith and Chantal Tkachuk whose incredible dedication to the foundation has helped raise over $1 million for Children's Hospital. Thank you for helping make miracles happen for sick kids!

Read all about the exciting launch of our Direct Response Television (DRTV) program, Because Children Need Us, by visiting our website at www.goodbear.mb.ca. This program shows just some of the miracles that happen at Children's Hospital everyday. Be sure to check your local listings and our website to find out when you can catch this important special.

We have many exciting events on the horizon, including the Book Market Paperback Sale October 19-21 and the Thompson Radiothon.

From all of us at the Children's Hospital Foundation, we thank you for your continued support and for making life a little easier for sick kids at Children's Hospital.

Sincerely,

Fiona Webster Mourant

Influenza Pandemic Preparedness- A Manrex News Bulletin
August 2006

Manrex Limited™ is currently developing a Business Continuity Plan concerning the Influenza Pandemic. 

What is "Influenza Pandemic"? 

An "influenza pandemic" occurs when a new strain of influenza virus emerges, spreading around the world and infecting many people in a very short time.

An influenza virus capable of causing a pandemic is one that people have no natural immunity to and can easily spread from person to person. It may cause severe disease. An influenza pandemic could cause many deaths and could occur at any time. It could happen at any time of the year, not just winter. 
- Source:  New Zealand Ministry of Health website www.moh.govt.nz/newsandissues

Manrex Limited™ understands the impact a pandemic can have on a business and how it may affect our customers.  Consequently, we have taken action to ensure that during this difficult time, Manrex Limited™ will be able to continue providing you, our customer, with the necessary supplies that you need to help your customers.  

Click here to learn more from about Influenza Pandemic.

Log in to Manrex Members to see what Manrex Limited™ is doing to prepare for the Influenza Pandemic.

City firms join forces to market new medical device
July 18 2006 From Winnipeg Free Press

By Murray McNeill

One of the city's newest medical device companies hopes to hit the ground running when it launches its first product in 2007.

Intelligent Hospital Systems (formerly Toric Automation) was to announce today it has appointed one of the country's leading marketers of medication delivery systems - Winnipeg-based Manrex Ltd. - as its exclusive sales agent in Canada.

IH Systems chief executive officer Kevin McGarry said company officials didn't expect to have a Canadian sales agent under contract this soon, let alone one with Manrex's experience and industry contacts.

"This appointment validates our technology from a sales perspective and accelerates our sales program," McGarry said. "Manrex's knowledge and experience with medical delivery systems, sales and marketing to health care facilities in Canada will be a tremendous asset."

IH Systems first product is a device that was developed by a research team at St. Boniface Research Centre and then improved upon by IH Systems. It can automatically prepare intravenous (IV) bags and syringes with the proper doses of antibiotics or chemotherapy drugs, but isn't expected to hit the market until next June.

McGarry said the company still has to field test the new device, called a Robotic IV Automation Unit (RIVA) in a hospital setting. It expects to begin in those field trials later this year or early in the new year, probably at St. Boniface General Hospital.

He said Manrex will be contacting Canadian hospitals to explain how the product works and to gauge interest.

IH Systems officials have already been talking to U.S. hospitals about the new product, and McGarry said 'the interest has been very, very significant." He said he expects Manrex to encounter the same high level of interest among Canadian hospital officials.

Manrex president, Fiona Webster Mourant said Manrex officials also think the RIVA device will be a great addition to its product lineup.

"We've seen a lot of automation devices from around the world and we are excited by the potential safety and efficiency benefits offered by the RIVA system." Webster Mourant said in a statement.

She said the device's ability to handle both IV bags and syringes in a variety of sizes will be a real advantage for hospitals because they can continue to use their current methods of drug preparation and delivery.

McGarry said the advantage the RIVA system has over other systems is that it can be used to prepare both individual patient-specific doses as well as batches of medication. Another, similar product on the market can only prepare batches, he added.

He said the main purpose of the hospital field tests is to determine the best way to use the new system.

IH Systems officials also hope to determine within two to three months where and how the devices will be produced.

Its options are to set up a factory to produce the devices, or subcontract the production work.

Manrex Limited™ becomes a finalist in the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year awards!
July 2005

CANADA'S PREMIER BUSINESS AWARD ANNOUNCES PRAIRIE FINALISTS
Photo courtesy of Justen Lacoursiere (RedPoint Media Group)

The 12th annual Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year awards
move into full swing with the naming of regional finalists

(Calgary, July 7, 2005) - From an impressive list of nominees, 51 best-in-class entrepreneurs-chosen for their business leadership skills, determination and vision-have been selected as Prairies region finalists in the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year 2005 awards.

"There is a great wealth of entrepreneurial talent in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, and these men and women bring countless benefits, both economic and social, to their industries and the communities in which they operate," says Barry Munro, director of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year awards program for the Prairies region. "We are proud to promote and celebrate the spirit, the drive and the incredible success stories of our Prairie entrepreneurs," he says.

Canada's most prestigious business awards program is now in its 12th year. The program considers nominees in a number of business categories before selecting finalists.

Manrex Ltd: Taking drug delivery worldwide
September 2002 From ProfitGuide.com

How Winnipeg-based Manrex Ltd. is taking its drug packaging system to the world
By Jack Kohane

Manrex Ltd. is taking drug delivery worldwide. "Our ongoing goal is to export brand awareness of Manrex Ltd. as a leader in medication delivery systems [such as blister packs]," says company president Fiona Webster Mourant. "We will focus on the market niche of aged care, a demographic that's increasing internationally." It's vision like that that helped Mourant clinch the title, Manitoba's Woman Entrepreneur of the Year 2002.

"Canada's market for medication delivery is mature," says Mourant. "And when you compare Canada's population of 30 million to 250 million in Europe, it only makes sense to move in that direction." About 12% of Canada's population is over 65; compared to 18% of Europe's. Obtaining just 10% of the European market is greater than having 100% of the Canadian market

In planning its growth strategy, one of the key concepts Mourant pursued was that of 'rivers of cash'. "This deals with examining what streams or product lines you receive your revenue from," she says. "We found that the majority of our income was coming from one source (blister packs) and that source was drying up. To compensate, Mourant drew up a three-pronged strategy: pursuing several revenue streams by developing new product lines, including a line of medication carts, then becoming the Canadian sales agent for international companies seeking a penetration point to the North American market, and finding robust export markets.

The idea of packaging a patient's daily drug regimen in a blister pack was first promoted by Manrex to a Scottish nursing home in the 1980s. The idea spread rapidly, and Manrex's pill packages are now distributed to 33% of the United Kingdom's nursing homes by Boots the Chemist drug stores. "Canada's national health care system has many similarities to that of the U.K, that's why our first international marketing efforts were in the United Kingdom," says Mourant. From there, it was an easier transition to other parts of Europe, she notes. Manrex now sells throughout the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, France, Holland, Germany, Spain, Malta, Portugal, Australia and South Africa and the United States.

Those strategies are proving successful — company sales have tripled since 1991. Internationally, Manrex sales have grown from less than one percent of its total revenue to 20%.

Linda Polloway, Director of Regional Pharmacy Services, David Thompson Health Region in Red Deer, Alta., has worked with Manrex for 20 years. "Manrex revolutionized the method in which medications were dispensed for long term care residents," she says. "And they provide the auxiliary supplies and equipment to support their drug distribution system. That's what sets them apart — they give you the full package, not just a component of what you need to make drug distribution more efficient and safer."

"We're not limited in terms of growth potential," says Mourant. "With the aging population continuing to grow and the resultant stress placed on every health system globally, our products offer health care professionals real solutions."

Pill system has winning Rx - Woman Entrepreneur of the Year triples sales
May 17, 2002 From the Winnipeg Sun

Dispensing pills can be a headache for nurses, but Fiona Webster Mourant has just the prescription, and for that, she was recognized last night as Manitoba's Women Entrepreneur of the Year.

Manrex Limited™, a company she and her brother took over from their father in 1991, has tripled its sales in the past decade by specializing in pharmaceutical packaging and systems - everything from shelving to medication trolleys - to help pharmacies organize their medications.

"There's a lot of room for error with nurses having to open and close drug vials for every patient, especially if each person is on five or six drugs that must be taken four times a day." Webster Mourant said prior to being honoured by an audience of more than 450 at the Women Business Owners of Manitoba awards gala.

While Manrex does not fill the prescriptions, it sells pharmacies a bubble-like card in which to put the pills, so the pills can easily be popped out, like a gum package, she said.

"We sell to pharmacists, but the end-users have been nurses. Now, we've taken the concept and are selling to pharmacists in the community.

With an aging population, this part of the business is growing by 25 to 30% per year, she said. "Studies show 20% of all elderly people are admitted to hospital because of medication errors - they've taken two or three of the same pill."

Manrex is also the Canadian agent for a tele-pharmacy program that allows remote northern communities without pharmacists to dispense drugs from a nursing station, she said.

A doctors hooks up over the Internet with a pharmacist, who will advise a patient on how to take a prescribed medication and any possible side-effects. The pharmacist will then hit a button that releases the drug from a locked-up dispenser, much like a candy bar machine.

The bar-coded drug is then scanned, so the pharmacist can confirm the right drug was dispensed.

Manrex not only sells its products in Canada but exports to the U.S., England, Scotland, Ireland, France, Germany, Malta, Italy, Australia, Spain and South Africa.

Crossing the Border: Finding Foreign Markets
April/May 2001 From Manitoba Business

By Jim E. Watson

Knocking on doors overseas and networking is what allowed Manrex Limited™ to continue to grow after the maker of a medication delivery system for the elderly had its product accepted in 53% of Canadian nursing homes. The idea of packaging a patient's daily medications in a blister pack to reduce dispensing time by nurses by up to 50% was promoted to a Scottish nursing home in the 1980s. The idea took off and now the product is distributed to 33% of the United Kingdom's nursing homes by Boots the Chemist.

At the same time, the Manrex system was introduced to the Australian market by the University of Manitoba Dean of Pharmacy, who was on sabbatical down-under, when he was asked about Canadian innovations in pharmacy. That led to inquiries and a new market for Manrex. "Our experience in exporting has been a push-pull situation", says John Webster, vice-president of sales and marketing, noting the company has needed to expand markets while at the same time potential customers have expressed interest in the product.

Such is the case in the company's newest market - the European Union. EU countries learned about the benefits of the product in England and wanted it. After spending two years educating European pharmacists and nurses about the blister pack product, sales are starting to materialize for Manrex.

Attending a recent trade show in Spain, Manrex received five times the anticipated sales. Almost 20% of company revenue is now from exports and approximately eight percent of that is from Europe.

Exporting has its difficulties as Manrex discovered. The most obvious is language difficulties, not only in dealing with people face to face, but on packaging which is often routed through several countries. The logistics of getting the product from here to the customer has to be overcome. New markets mean increased production, which creates challenges; Manrex has increased staff to 30 from six. Dealing with supply, delivery and quality control issues across the ocean also raises new challenges. Exporting is a viable way to grow despite all the challenges, Webster says.

He points out that 12% of Canada's population of 30 million is over 65 and in Europe, with 250 million people, 18% of the population is over 65. Obtaining just 10% of the European market is greater than having 100% of the Canadian market.

Manrex Limited™ based here in Winnipeg offers a solution to this issue.

Manrex donates carts to Childrens Hospital
January 16, 2001

On behalf of the Manrex Limited™ Team, four modified medication carts were delivered to Renee Ethans, Manager of Child Life, part of the Child Life Department at Children's Hospital.

The Child Life Department is a unique area of the Children's Hospital where children are given opportunities to play and to learn about their upcoming hospital experiences. CHTV is a closed-circuit television station operating in the hospital that airs programs for children and produces a daily live show hosted by a pizza-loving puppet, "Noname".

The carts donated by Manrex were filled with a variety of activity books, arts and crafts material, movies, prizes, puzzles, games and more. They are being used as mobile entertainment centres in the Burn Unit, Cancer Ward, Bone Marrow Transplant Unit, CHTV and other areas. When patients are confined to their beds, receiving treatment, or otherwise unable to go to the play area, the carts allow the play area to come to them.

The staff of Children's Hospital is delighted that, for the second consecutive year, they are able to share the Manrex gift with patients and their families. Manrex in turn is pleased to support the hospital and the children in this way.

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