PAL Equatorial Palm Oil Plc

RNS Number:7188Q
Pall Corporation
11 September 2000


For More Information Contact:

Patrice Radowitz, Pall Corporation, Media Calls
(516) 484-3600, ext. 6111

Diane Foster, Pall Corporation, Investor Relations Calls
(516) 484-3600, ext. 6109

Kathleen Connolly, Rhode Island Blood Center
(401) 453-8555

Susan Parkinson, America's Blood Centers
(202) 393-5725 ext.15


Pall Corporation Announces Rhode Island Becomes First State to Filter All Blood

East Hills, NY (8/23/00) - Rhode Island has become the first US state to
implement a universal leukoreduction (ULR) blood filtration policy. Rhode
Island Blood Center, using a variety of technologies, is now leukoreducing
all of its blood collections. The Center, which collects approximately 68,000
units of blood a year, supplies all of the hospitals in the state. One of the
key parts of the Rhode Island Blood Center's strategy is to use Pall
Corporation's (NYSE: PLL) clinically proven blood filtration technologies,
which are widely used by hospitals and blood centers around the world.
Leukoreduction by filtration is a key component of Rhode Island Blood
Center's efforts to assure the safety of the blood supply.

Donor white blood cells can cause reactions in the patient at the time of
transfusion, and are known to transmit disease and predispose transfusion
recipients to infection. Longer and more expensive hospital stays result,
with overall diminished patient outcomes. Pall filtered blood means fewer
health complications, faster patient recoveries and lower costs.

Eric Krasnoff, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Pall Corporation
stated, "Filtration is rapidly becoming the standard of care throughout the
world. We applaud Rhode Island Blood Center for its management convictions
and dedicated leadership to making blood transfusions even safer."

Dr. Carolyn Young, Medical Director of Rhode Island Blood Center added, "Pre-
storage universal leukoreduction is an advancement in blood product safety
and purity which benefits patients." Rhode Island Blood Center is a member of
America's Blood Centers (ABC). ABC is a network of non-profit, independent
community blood centers which supply almost half of the US blood supply.

While there is not yet a national mandate to filter all blood products in the
US, the medical community has been acting on the FDA's Blood Products
Advisory Committee's (BPAC) recommendation that all donor blood should be
filtered to remove white cells. In 1998, BPAC, the independent board upon
which the Federal Government relies to furnish expert advice, unanimously
agreed that, "the benefit to risk ratio associated with leukoreduction is
sufficiently great to justify routine leukoreduction of all non-leukocyte
transfusion blood components...." Since this landmark recommendation,
leukocyte reduction has increased in the US from about 16% to close to 50%
today.
  
Twenty-two other countries are also moving to filter all of their donor blood
using leukocyte reduction technology. Many of them have mandated routine
blood filtration of all blood components as a matter of public policy. Among
them are Switzerland, France, Canada, the United Kingdom and Portugal. Universal
blood filtration is also moving forward as the new standard of care in Germany,
Austria, New Zealand and Japan. The German government is expected to mandate
routine filtration according to an announcement made earlier this year. Pall
recently announced that it has been awarded a $6 million contract by the German
Red Cross Transfusion Center, Lower Saxony, the second largest blood center in
Germany and one of the first in the country to implement 100% filtration
voluntarily.
                                        
About Pall Corporation

Pall Corporation, the market leader, offers the broadest range of advanced
blood filtration products and the support services to help blood centers meet
the challenges of implementing routine, high volume, blood filtration. The
Company is prepared to meet the growing requirements of its customers for
products, logistics and regulatory support. Pall reported fiscal 1999 blood
filter sales in excess of $185 million and sales for the first nine months of
fiscal 2000 have increased 19% in local currency, reflecting increased
worldwide demand. The world market for blood filters is estimated at $1.2
billion.
                                        
The Company is also collaborating with V.I. Technologies (NasdaqNM: VITX) to
be the first to commercialize pathogen inactivation technology for red cells.
Red cells are the most frequently transfused blood component with over 50
million transfusions worldwide annually. Pathogen inactivation is
breakthrough technology that promises to eradicate harmful pathogens,
including HIV and Hepatitis C, from donor blood. When coupled with the market
for pathogen inactivation technology, the size of the market is over $5
billion.
                                        
Pall is the acknowledged technology leader in the increasingly complex and
demanding filtration industry and has been for more than 50 years. The
Company serves more markets with more proprietary products than any other
company in the $18 billion filtration industry. With annual sales of over $1
billion, Pall Corporation is based in East Hills, New York, USA and operates
directly in 30 countries. The Company's shares are listed on the New York
Stock Exchange (PLL). Further information is available at http://www.pall.com
and http://www.bloodtransfusion.com.
                                        
This release contains "forward-looking statements" as defined in the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on
current company expectations and are subject to risks and uncertainties which
could cause actual results to differ materially. Such risks and uncertainties
include, but are not limited to, foreign currency exchange fluctuations,
regulatory approvals, market acceptance of new technologies, economic
conditions and market demand.

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