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“BD
is on the eve of a revolution that might only be surpassed
in company history by the shift to disposable medical devices
in the early 1960s. The health care industry is poised for
and, in fact, has already begun a wholesale changeover to
safety-engineered devices designed to protect health care
workers from sharps injuries. We are very well prepared for
this major change. Based on more than 10 years of development
effort, BD is the only company with a complete range of highly
effective safety-engineered devices. We also have the resources
and service capabilities needed to support hospitals and other
health care facilities during the transition. These capabilities
position BD to help lead a movement that is unquestionably
the right thing to do, and from which BD will benefit.
“Currently,
about 20 percent of the U.S. market has converted to safety-engineered
products. Within the next few years, we believe the market
will be 85 percent converted. The primary impetus to date
has been state legislation. This is now expanding to a national
level via recent OSHA regulatory action and anticipated federal
legislation that will effectively require the use of safety-engineered
devices in all U.S. health care facilities. Similar activities,
at an earlier stage, are also taking hold in Europe.
“Our
first safety-engineered product, the Safety-Lok
syringe, reached the market in 1988. We were in the lead
at the time, and we have steadily enhanced our position so
that we now have the most complete line in the industry: over
220 safety-engineered devices. In fact, BD is by far the leading
patent holder and innovator for safety-engineered devices,
a result of many years of diligent product development and
steady investment.
“On
the point of investment, we are committing hundreds of millions
of dollars to capital expansion for safety-engineered products
in the coming years. This will ensure that we have the capacity
to meet market demand. It will also ensure long-term competitive
advantage in cost and quality-traditional BD strengths. The
payback more than justifies the commitment, as we project
revenues for safety-engineered devices to grow more than threefold
by 2004.
“This
year, we added significant new technologies to our portfolio.
An agreement with Med-Design Corp. will result in further
advances in spring-based needle retraction technology for
infusion therapy and blood collection applications. Our acquisition
of Saf-T-Med provides the most effective spring-based safety
technology available for syringes.
“In
an age of sophisticated, breakthrough technologies, safety
technology seems deceptively simple. The safety-engineered
products themselves appear similar to their conventional counterparts,
and are designed to function exactly like standard medical
devices, while reducing the risk of accidental sharps injury.
Yet, providing billions of low-cost, safety-engineered devices
that have many added features and moving parts is anything
but simple. This is where our proprietary design, manufacturing,
marketing and process automation capabilities provide a competitive
edge.
“While
safety-engineered devices represent our most significant near-term
opportunity, a broad portfolio of promising technologies is
essential for the future.
“Several
factors are driving our development of novel, or non-traditional,
drug delivery platforms. One of the most far-reaching is new
drugs requiring innovative delivery
techniques. The drug delivery industry reached $1 billion
in worldwide revenues in 1997, but by 2007 we expect it to
grow to $4.5-$6.0 billion in revenues-a compound annual growth
rate of 16-20 percent.
“We
are positioning ourselves for a future in which we extend
our know-how and experience in drug delivery to build systems
that carry the drug through its entire chain of delivery-from
the pharmaceutical company’s formulation process to delivery
and, ultimately, disposal.
“BD
is developing several technologies that will reinvent the
administration of medication, making it less invasive and
driving higher levels of patient safety and compliance. Our
AccuSpray
nasal spray system, a proprietary design based on our
HYPAK
syringe technology, is being developed in conjunction
with Aviron’s Flu-Mist nasal vaccine for influenza. Currently
in clinical trials, this system painlessly
administers the annual flu shot and delivers a precise aerosol
spray to the nasal mucosal tissue.
“To
deliver medication through the skin, transdermal patches eliminate
the needle altogether and provide a sustained rate of drug
delivery, eliminating many of the side effects of pills and
tablets. We’re collaborating with several pharmaceutical companies
on promising applications and will be entering Phase III clinical
trials in early 2000.
“The
ability to deliver vaccines in new ways is reshaping pharmaceutical
companies’ pipelines. New insights into ways to activate the
human immune system and modern microchip technology are behind
the change. One of the methods BD is developing consists of
microscopic needles arrayed on a small patch or silicon chip.
Still early in development, microdelivery opens up promising
new alternatives to traditional injection that can more precisely
deliver potent and targeted agents to individual cells.”
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