facility. " We have a very healthy OEM contract manufacturing business producing medical devices for large and well-known manufacturers of these devices," continues Larkin. " Nova Biomedical has a history of excellent R& D and manufacturing experience, so we can bring this expertise to other companies that wish to have us manufacture equipment for them." This segment has been operating for about 15 years, supplying equipment to major international medical device manufacturers. Companies approach Nova either with a concept or with a fully designed product. Nova can take a design concept through all phases to end product- including product development, prototype development, pilot phase and manufacturing. Those companies with a fully designed product have already prototyped and tested the product and require Nova to manufacture the product for them. " We look for long- term partnerships with these companies, and generally we manufacture products for them using their own IP." The Bedford facility manufactures blood glucose monitors and diabetes test strips for consumer and hospital use. The consumer products are sold under the NovaMax brand name. Nova Biomedical's recent acquisition of Florida- based Sanvita Inc. means the company is now able to sell directly to retailers and wholesalers. " This is exciting for us, because in the US market we, as a manufacturer, can deliver our products direct to end users through Sanvita, a wholly owned subsidiary of Nova," explains Larkin. For a company its size, Nova Biomedical is unique. " Our manufacturing spans the range between low- volume, high-complexity, high- margin, hand- crafted units to high- volume, lower- complexity, semi- automated production," notes Larkin. He attributes the company's success to its dedicated workforce, with an average tenure in the 20- year range. and healthy biotech business producing chemistry analyzers. In the case of the blood gas analyzers, you are measuring blood analytes in a patient's blood sample to assess the health of a patient. The chemistry analyzers measure liquid samples from a bioreactor and monitor the health of the bioreactor to assess the quality of the solution produced." Nova analyzers, used in hospitals to support the care of critically ill patients, deliver tests cost- effectively in the shortest amount of time. Nova units are also used in the central laboratory, emergency department, surgery, critical care area and respiratory care area. " These instruments are relatively modest- volume, high- complexity, high- margin units," reports Larkin. So intricately complex are these units that they require Nova's highly skilled craftsmen to produce them by hand. The Waltham facility also produces products for the company's consumables business segment. " To support our core instruments, we manufacture not only the sensors that go into the instruments but also the chemical reagents that support the operation of these units," explains Larkin. Nova hospital meters are also produced at the Waltham facility. " These are point- of- care instruments used at a patient's bedside," Larkin says. " These include the Nova line of blood glucose meters used to care for diabetics. These instruments are selling very well, due primarily to our advanced technology that can report a pure signal of what you are measuring for- glucose, for example. Our technology is able to separate out signals from other drugs patients might have in their systems, so the technology picks up only a pure signal of what doctors or nurses are measuring for." Contract manufacturing is also done at the Waltham 178 www. bus- ex. com NOVEMBER 09

Nova Biomedical Corporation NOVEMBER 09 www. bus- ex. com 179 Being vertically integrated enhances the company's own production capabilities and quality standards, as well as those of its OEM customers. " We operate two machine shops, one for production and one for R& D," notes Larkin. The company also has the capability to produce both surface- mount and through- hole printed circuit boards for its equipment. It also boasts in- house plastics injection molding capabilities, having produced over 170 molds so far. It also operates an automated reagent mixing, filling and sealing operation. The company employs lean management initiatives. Larkin reports that since the company was founded in 1978, Nova Biomedical introduced about 20 different proprietary sensor tests. " We're really strong and robust in the technology field. We're also agile and nimble in our OEM contract manufacturing business. We continue to evolve by offering new offshoots of products based on what our customers require for their business portfolios. We're able to turn around new technologies and offer new products to the market within a very short time frame." Although all manufacturing is done in Waltham and Bedford, Nova Biomedical sells its products throughout the world, operating sales and service operations in Japan, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Austria and Germany. Larkin says Nova Biomedical will continue to bring exciting and innovative products through its R& D pipeline into the marketplace. " We are continuing to grow our hospital point- of- care business, and we have a lot of new products coming through that pipeline." The company has its eye on international growth, and within the last two years Nova began an ongoing partnership with one of Europe's largest pharmaceutical companies- the Menarini Group, headquartered in Florence, Italy, and having a strong European presence. " They are selling in markets we didn't previously serve," says Larkin.