BD (BDX) Extends Partnership to Boost Diagnostic Blood Collection

Becton, Dickinson and Company BDX, popularly known as BD, and Babson Diagnostics – a science-first, health care technology company – recently extended their collaboration to move blood sample collection into new care settings. This will allow patients to take their blood samples at home for diagnostic testing.

Both the companies have been in partnership since 2019 to develop a capillary blood collection and testing system, which is currently in advanced development. This is likely to aid laboratory-quality, small-volume capillary blood collection in retail settings by team members with no expertise in blood collection.

This long-term partnership will allow BD and Babson to accelerate the development of the blood testing ecosystem that includes next generation capillary collection technology of the former and proprietary automated sample-handling and analytical technologies of the latter.

With this announcement, BD is likely to see a boost in its Life Sciences business.

Significance of the Collaboration

Continued research and development to allow self-collection, mobile services and at-home collection are included in the plans under the extended agreement.

Apart from this, Babson and BD will expand the types of blood tests that are possible through small-volume blood collection beyond primary care-oriented tests, while planning to develop diagnostic tests for pediatric use. 

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Per management at BD, this solution is a milestone as it addresses multiple unmet needs within the present health care system. Being less invasive and simpler than the traditional venous blood draw method, capillary blood collection is likely to result in an improved patient experience. This could enable health care providers experience better compliance among patients for routine blood testing.

Market Prospects

Per a report by Grand View Research, the global blood collection market is projected to reach $13.99 billion by 2026, at a CAGR of 6.6%. The growing incidence of infectious and non-communicable diseases is a primary factor expected to drive the market growth during the forecast period (2015-2026). Hence, this announcement comes at an opportune time for BD.

Recent Developments

In April, BD announced the launch of a new family of reagents that enables researchers to gain improved data resolution and greater insights from samples compared to traditional fluorochromes.

In February, the company announced a collaboration with ReturnSafe to integrate the BD Veritor At-Home COVID-19 Test directly within the latter’s testing management platform.

Price Performance

Shares of this Zacks Rank #4 (Sell) company have gained 3% in the past year against the industry’s fall of 5%.

Stocks to Consider

Some better-ranked stocks in the broader medical space are AMN Healthcare Services, Inc. AMN, Masimo Corporation MASI and Veeva Systems, Inc. VEEV.

AMN Healthcare surpassed earnings estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 15.6%. The company currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

AMN Healthcare’s long-term earnings growth rate is estimated at 1.1%. The company’s earnings yield of 11.4% compares favorably with the industry’s (0.8%).

Masimo beat earnings estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 4.4%. The company currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Masimo’s estimated earnings growth rate for second-quarter 2022 is pegged at 22.3%. The company’s earnings yield is pegged at 3.8% against the industry’s (8.5%).

Veeva Systems surpassed earnings estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 9.6%. The company currently carries a Zacks Rank #2.

Veeva Systems’ long-term earnings growth rate is estimated at 18.1%. The company’s earnings yield of 2.4% compares favorably with the industry’s 0.2%.

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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.