Disposable Pump
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - MiniMed Inc.
(MNMD.O) expects to see continued revenue growth of
about 35 percent annually as it broadens its focus to
include products for adult-onset diabetes and other
chronic illnesses, company officials said on Monday.
Chief Financial Officer Kevin Sayer said he was
comfortable with analysts’ estimates that the company
would log revenues of $200-210 million in 1999 and
said revenues of $270-290 million were achievable
this year.
MiniMed, based in Sylmar, Calif., makes external
insulin pumps and other devices including a glucose
monitor that are mostly used by people with Type 1
diabetes, the less common form of the disease which in
total affects about 16 million Americans.
“We are moving our efforts into the Type 2 market,”
Chief Executive Officer Alfred Mann said at a
biotechnology conference here.
Mann was referring to the type of diabetes that usually
affects older adults and is associated with obesity.
He said MiniMed expects to soon submit an application
to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for approval
to market a disposable insulin pump.
Other applications for the company’s pump technology
include delivering medication to patients with high
blood pressure or AIDS, he said, while alluding to
potential alliances with large pharmaceutical partners.
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