Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

Nature of business

v3.6.0.2
Nature of business
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2016
Organization Consolidation And Presentation Of Financial Statements [Abstract]  
Nature of business

 

 

1. Nature of business

Inogen, Inc. (Company or Inogen) was incorporated in Delaware on November 27, 2001. The Company is a medical technology company that primarily develops, manufactures and markets innovative portable oxygen concentrators used to deliver supplemental long-term oxygen therapy to patients suffering from chronic respiratory conditions. Traditionally, these patients have relied on stationary oxygen concentrator systems for use in the home and oxygen tanks or cylinders for mobile use, which the Company calls the delivery model. The tanks and cylinders must be delivered regularly and have a finite amount of oxygen, which requires patients to plan activities outside of their homes around delivery schedules and a finite oxygen supply. Additionally, patients must attach long, cumbersome tubing to their stationary concentrators simply to enable mobility within their homes. The Company’s proprietary Inogen One systems concentrate the air around the patient to offer a single source of supplemental oxygen anytime, anywhere with a portable device weighing approximately 2.8, 4.8 or 7.0 pounds with a single battery. The Company’s Inogen One systems reduce the patient’s reliance on stationary concentrators and scheduled deliveries of tanks with a finite supply of oxygen, thereby improving patient quality of life and fostering mobility.

Portable oxygen concentrators represented the fastest-growing segment of the Medicare oxygen therapy market between 2012 and 2015. The Company estimates based on 2015 Medicare data that patients using portable oxygen concentrators represented approximately 8% of the total addressable oxygen market in the United States, although the Medicare data does not account for private insurance and cash-pay sales into the market. Based on 2015 industry data, the Company believes it was the leading worldwide manufacturer of portable oxygen concentrators, as well as the largest provider of portable oxygen concentrators to Medicare patients, as measured by dollar volume. The Company believes it is the only manufacturer of portable oxygen concentrators that employs a direct-to-consumer strategy in the United States, meaning the Company markets its products to patients, processes their physician paperwork, provides clinical support as needed and bills Medicare or insurance on their behalf. To pursue a direct-to-consumer strategy, the Company’s manufacturing competitors would need to meet national accreditation and state-by-state licensing requirements and secure Medicare billing privileges including Medicare competitive bidding contracts, as well as compete with the home medical equipment providers that many rely on across their entire homecare business.

Since adopting the Company’s direct-to-consumer strategy in 2009 following its acquisition of Comfort Life Medical Supply, LLC, which had an active Medicare billing number but few other assets and limited business activities, the Company has directly sold or rented more than 228,000 of its Inogen oxygen concentrators as of December 31, 2016.