Thursday, February 15, 2007

Insulet files for $86M IPO

By Ryan McBride

Insulet Corp., a venture-backed maker of insulin-delivery systems, hopes to raise more than $86 million in an initial public offering.

The Bedford-based medical devices firm filed documents Wednesday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for the IPO. The filing did not include the number of shares to be issued, pricing or an expected date for the stock sale.

Company officials declined a request for an interview.

In its filing with the SEC, the company said the proceeds of the offering would fund work to automate its manufacturing operations and construct a second production line at its facility in Bedford. The proceeds would also bankroll the company's sales and marketing efforts, research and development, as well as general corporate purposes.

The company reported that it has yet to profit from its OmniPod insulin-delivery system, approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in early 2005. The current sale price of the system fails to exceed direct manufacturing costs, the company said in the filing. An automated production system would increase volume and reduce the cost of making each unit, officials said.

The OmniPod system consists of small, insulin-carrying device worn on the skin and a wireless, handheld device that programs and monitors the delivery unit. The company had sold 1,200 OmniPod systems in the United States by the end of 2006, according to the SEC filing.

Last February, the company announced it had closed a $50 million financing led by OrbiMed Advisors LLC. As of then, the company had raised a total of about $120 million. It was founded in 2000.