MARLBOROUGH, Mass.,
April 2, 2020 /PRNewswire/
-- The COVID-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented challenges
upon the global community and the many healthcare providers who are
caring for patients. During this time of concern and disruption,
Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE: BSX) has taken important
actions to reduce the spread of the virus in local communities and
support global relief efforts, while implementing business
continuity plans. Today the company is providing an update on the
actions it has taken and a preliminary estimated revenue growth
range for the first quarter 2020.
"We are focused on the safety and well-being of our people, who
continue to find innovative solutions to support critical
procedures and time-sensitive patient needs," said Mike
Mahoney, chairman and chief executive officer, Boston Scientific.
"As healthcare systems respond to the increasing demands of
managing COVID-19, emergent procedures need to be prioritized to
help enable increased hospital capacity, and therefore elective
procedures are being delayed. While we expect this to negatively
impact short-term performance, we continue to believe in the
excellent, long-term fundamentals of our company and will continue
to manage through these challenges with strategic focus and the
winning spirit of our talented global team."
For the first quarter of 2020, business trends through the first
two months of the year were in line with company expectations;
however, as COVID-19 reached a global pandemic level in March,
procedural volumes significantly declined. Subsequently, the
company now expects first quarter 2020 revenue growth on a GAAP
basis to be approximately flat to up slightly versus the prior year
period, and an organic* revenue decline of approximately two to
three percent.
The company is currently conducting financial closing procedures
for the first quarter and is unable to provide a more precise
reported sales estimate at this time. Final sales results, other
operating metrics and business highlights will be provided on the
first quarter earnings call scheduled for April 29, 2020.
Implementing Mitigation Plans
Assuming the second quarter impact of the COVID-19 pandemic will
be more significant than the first quarter of 2020, Boston
Scientific is taking proactive steps to reduce costs and be in
a strong position to support customers and patients when healthcare
systems begin to recover, and elective procedures start to return
to normal volumes. These steps include optimizing appropriate
variable costs, including manufacturing output, significantly
reducing the salaries of its chief executive officer, board of
directors and executive committee members, and where appropriate,
temporarily reducing work week schedules for employees.
The company has also strategically decreased discretionary
spending and implemented precautionary measures to ensure business
continuity in its supply chain and manufacturing facilities,
including rotational shifts, segregating buildings and limiting
movement across building sites.
Supporting Communities
To help meet the urgent needs of healthcare providers, Boston
Scientific continues to contribute to COVID-19 relief efforts
globally through monetary and supply donations, and by providing
engineering and manufacturing expertise and resources. This
includes previous and planned donations of protective personal
equipment (PPE) and medical equipment to local hospitals and
government agencies. The company is also providing support to
children, families and the most vulnerable through direct financial
contributions to local community and global non-profit
organizations.
Additionally, the company is supporting employees who are
trained healthcare providers choosing to volunteer as supplemental
staff for hospitals in need of additional nurses, doctors and
clinicians.
Innovating to Address Critical Needs
Many Boston Scientific employees are lending their time and
expertise to collaborate with hospitals, universities and industry
peers to find new and innovative ways to address the urgent demand
for PPE and ventilators. Several initiatives are underway.
- Ventilators:
-
- Working with the University of
Minnesota Bakken Medical Device Center and industry
collaborators to bring a ventilator alternative to market. The
machine is intended to work as a one-armed robot to pump an
Ambu® bag, replacing the need for manual respiration in
emergency settings
-
- Collaborating with a global manufacturer of commercial
ventilators to source and produce product components, thereby
expanding its supply chain capacity, to enable its increased
production of transportable ventilators.
- PPE:
-
- Addressing PPE shortages among healthcare workers by producing
face shields at three of our U.S. manufacturing sites through a
collaboration with the nonprofit GetUsPPE.org and plastic packaging
company Prent Corporation.
- Working with the University of Minnesota and others to
develop a reusable personal respirator. The joint team intends to
design and build prototypes, collect clinical feedback, obtain
regulatory approval and distribute a significant quantity of
reusable PPE that can be used in place of the combination N95
respirator and face shield.
"Boston Scientific is committed to working alongside its global
stakeholders to emerge from this challenging time stronger,
together, so we can continue to deliver innovative medical
solutions and improve the health of patients around the world,"
said Mike Mahoney.
First Quarter Earnings Conference Call
As mentioned, on Wednesday, April 29, 2020 Boston
Scientific will webcast its conference call discussing financial
results and business highlights for the first quarter
ended March 31, 2020. The call will begin at 8:00
a.m. EDT, hosted by Mike Mahoney and Dan Brennan,
executive vice president and chief financial officer, Boston
Scientific. The company will issue a news release announcing
financial results for the first quarter on Wednesday, April
29, 2020, prior to the conference call.
A live webcast and replay of the event will be accessible
at investors.bostonscientific.com. The replay will be
available beginning approximately one hour following the completion
of the event.
About Boston Scientific
Boston Scientific transforms
lives through innovative medical solutions that improve the health
of patients around the world. As a global medical technology leader
for 40 years, we advance science for life by providing a broad
range of high performance solutions that address unmet patient
needs and reduce the cost of healthcare. For more information,
visit www.bostonscientific.com and connect on Twitter and
Facebook.
*Organic revenue excludes the impact of foreign currency
fluctuations and sales from the recent acquisitions of Vertiflex,
Inc and BTG plc (BTG), each with no prior year comparable sales.
Organic revenue also excludes the impact of the divestiture of the
global embolic microspheres portfolio, a transaction entered into
in connection with obtaining the antitrust clearances required to
complete the BTG transaction.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking
Statements
This press release contains forward-looking
statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act
of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of
1934. Forward-looking statements may be identified by words
like "anticipate," "expect," "project," "believe," "plan,"
"estimate," "intend" and similar words. These forward-looking
statements are based on our beliefs, assumptions and estimates
using information available to us at the time and are not intended
to be guarantees of future events or performance. These
forward-looking statements include, among other things, statements
regarding our business plans and product performance and impact,
and the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on the Company's results of
operations. If our underlying assumptions turn out to be incorrect,
or if certain risks or uncertainties materialize, actual results
could vary materially from the expectations and projections
expressed or implied by our forward-looking statements. These
factors, in some cases, have affected and in the future (together
with other factors) could affect our ability to implement our
business strategy and may cause actual results to differ materially
from those contemplated by the statements expressed in this press
release. As a result, readers are cautioned not to place undue
reliance on any of our forward-looking statements.
Factors that may cause such differences include, among other
things: future economic, competitive, reimbursement and regulatory
conditions; new product introductions; demographic trends;
intellectual property; litigation; financial market conditions; and
future business decisions made by us and our competitors. All
of these factors are difficult or impossible to predict accurately
and many of them are beyond our control. For a further list
and description of these and other important risks and
uncertainties that may affect our future operations, see Part I,
Item 1A – Risk Factors in our most recent Annual Report on
Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which
we may update in Part II, Item 1A – Risk Factors in
Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q we have filed or will file
hereafter. We disclaim any intention or obligation to
publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect
any change in our expectations or in events, conditions or
circumstances on which those expectations may be based, or that may
affect the likelihood that actual results will differ from those
contained in the forward-looking statements. This cautionary
statement is applicable to all forward-looking statements contained
in this document.
CONTACTS:
Kelly Leadem
Media Relations
(508) 683-5543 (office)
Media@bsci.com
Susie Lisa, CFA
Investor Relations
(508) 683-5565 (office)
BSXInvestorRelations@bsci.com
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SOURCE Boston Scientific Corporation