West Pharmaceutical Services
(
WST
) recently announced the commercial launch of its B.safe syringe
safety system. The company will employ its scalable technology for
mass production to meet market demand in the first half of
2013.
West acquired the intellectual property rights to B.safe in 2011
and completed all phases of product development as well as the
first stage of commercial scale-up at its manufacturing center for
safety systems in France. The latest announcement reflects the
company's commitment to meet the increasing market demand for
safety systems.
Per management, the market launch of B.safe marks a keystone in
West's operations. This newest offering will enhance the company's
portfolio and allow it to extend its foothold in the prefilled
syringes and needle safety arena as the B.safe system is better
designed to safeguard against needlestick injury, compared with
other prefilled syringes.
In another story, West inked an agreement with Janssen Biotech,
Inc. to develop and manufacture a leading-edge self-injection
product aptly named SelfDose. The collaboration will enable the
company to enhance its existing portfolio of self-injection
technology as SelfDose complements West's ConfiDose and SmartDose
injection technologies.
The market introduction of B.safe along with the
commercialization of SeflDose is expected to bolster the sales of
the company's Delivery Systems segment. It is also expected to
boost the segment market share, which is currently lower than 5% of
the total global market. Since the company's financial metrics rely
on revenues generated by injectable drugs, the launch of B.safe is
expected to reinforce its performance.
West is a global leader in provision of drug administration
systems and components for packaging, as well as delivery of
injectable drugs and delivery system components across various
industries.
The company has a significant competitive advantage in the
market it serves. Additionally, it continues to make headway into
new geographies to expand its business. However, macroeconomic
pressure across the globe remains a headwind.
West, which competes with
3M Co.
(
MMM
) and
Rexam plc
. (
REXMY
) in certain niches, currently has a Zacks#2 Rank, which translates
into a short-term Buy rating.
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