Premier Inc. and Honeywell Collaborate to Expand U.S. Production of Nitrile Exam Gloves

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (July 13, 2021) — Honeywell (NASDAQ: HON) and Premier Inc. (NASDAQ: PINC), a leading technology-driven healthcare improvement company, today announced a new commercial relationship dedicated to expanding the domestic production of nitrile exam gloves. This new collaboration is expected to produce at least 750 million domestically made nitrile exam gloves in the first year alone.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the supply of exam gloves has been constrained as global demand skyrocketed – exceeding production capacity by nearly 40 percent. Global raw material scarcity, port closures and delays, and increased glove usage as a result of increased hospitalization rates and vaccination efforts have exacerbated ongoing shortages. As a result, Premier member hospitals reported access to exam gloves as one of their greatest product-related challenges to care for patients, with many implementing glove conservation practices and other precautionary measures to protect supply.

"Honeywell and Premier share a commitment to increase the domestic production capacity for safety solutions to help to protect American healthcare workers," said Praveen Reddy, President of Honeywell’s personal protective equipment (PPE) business. "Our N95 respirators are protecting millions of healthcare workers, and now we’re bringing our technical and supply chain management expertise to support another category of essential PPE. This relationship helps strengthen Honeywell’s position as a leading provider of healthcare and medical solutions.”

"Guided by data to prioritize greatest-need products at scale, our collaboration with Honeywell is another step forward in Premier’s steadfast commitment to protect healthcare providers from shortages, drive supply chain innovation and increase domestic manufacturing of critical products," said Michael J. Alkire, President and CEO of Premier. "Throughout the pandemic, our members stepped up to make strategic investments and purchasing commitments, changing the way we source critical products and improving the reliability of supply for employees and patients."

The collaboration between Premier and Honeywell is expected to expand access to domestically manufactured exam gloves for U.S. hospitals, clinics and other healthcare providers. More than 80 participating Premier member health systems have committed to purchase a certain percentage of the Honeywell gloves for a period of five years. Honeywell will provide additional gloves to S2S Global, Premier’s direct sourcing subsidiary, enabling the sale of domestically produced gloves to other health systems and hospitals across the country.

For more than a decade, Premier has been a leader in direct sourcing, working with manufacturers around the globe to produce high-quality products, including those in short supply. This collaboration with Honeywell is part of Premier’s long-term strategy to drive U.S. private sector manufacturing innovation and build greater supply chain resiliency – working with members to pursue partnerships with domestic companies that specialize in critical product categories. Honeywell and Premier are also collaborating to expand access to other healthcare PPE and are including these additional items in Premier’s product offerings for its members.

Honeywell has a long history of designing and manufacturing head-to-toe safety solutions for workers in challenging environments globally. With decades of experience in the healthcare space, Honeywell offers a broad portfolio of PPE for the hospital environment, including face shields and respiratory protection, and solutions to improve patient outcomes and enhance the performance of critical medical equipment.

The financial terms of the collaboration were not disclosed and are not expected to materially impact either Honeywell or Premier.

Forward-Looking Statements

This release contains certain statements that may be deemed “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, that address activities, events or developments that Honeywell, Premier or their respective management intends, expects, projects, believes or anticipates will or may occur in the future are forward-looking statements. Such statements are based upon certain assumptions and assessments made by Honeywell’s and Premier’s management in light of their experience and their perception of historical trends, current economic and industry conditions, expected future developments and other factors they believe to be appropriate. The forward-looking statements included in this release are also subject to a number of material risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to economic, competitive, governmental, and technological factors affecting our operations, markets, products, services and prices. Such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, and actual results, developments and business decisions may differ from those envisaged by such forward-looking statements. Each of Honeywell and Premier identify the principal risks and uncertainties that affect their performance in their respective Form 10-Ks and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

About Honeywell

Honeywell is a Fortune 100 technology company that delivers industry-specific solutions that include aerospace products and services; control technologies for buildings and industry; and performance materials globally. Our technologies help aircraft, buildings, manufacturing plants, supply chains, and workers become more connected to make our world smarter, safer, and more sustainable. For more news and information on Honeywell, please visit www.honeywell.com/newsroom.