For those interested in info about the NxStage company
I found it interesting that they increased their sales reps from 6 to 20 last year. I’m sure they will be hiring many more in the next year. I’d love to see several of them be dialysis patients!!
Also, particularly interesting – the mention that the contract w/ the clinics is for fluid and cartridges for 26 treatments per month for each patient. There’s gonna’ be a whole lot of people feeling a whole lot better 
(Sure wish I had a hundred thousand $$$ to put into their stock.)
"1-Mar-2006
[b]Annual Report
Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
Overview [/b]
We are a medical device company that develops, manufactures and markets innovative systems for the treatment of ESRD, acute kidney failure and fluid overload. Our primary product, the NxStage System One, is a small, portable, easy-to-use hemodialysis system designed to provide physicians and patients improved flexibility in how hemodialysis therapy is prescribed and delivered. We believe the largest market opportunity for our product is the home hemodialysis market for the treatment of ESRD.
From our inception in 1998 until 2002 our operations consisted primarily of start-up activities, including designing and developing the System One, recruiting personnel and raising capital. Historically, research and development costs have been our single largest operating expense. However, with the launch of the System One in the home chronic market, selling and marketing costs have become our largest operating expense in 2005 as we continue to expand our United States sales force to penetrate our markets and grow revenues.
Our overall strategy since inception has been to (a) design and develop new products for the treatment of kidney failure, (b) establish that the products are safe, effective and cleared for use in the United States, © further enhance the product design through field experience from a limited number of customers, (d) establish reliable manufacturing and sources of supply, (e) execute a market launch in both the chronic and critical care markets and establish the System One as a preferred system for the treatment of kidney failure, (f) obtain the capital necessary to finance our working capital needs and build our business and (g) achieve profitability. The evolution of NxStage, and the allocation of our resources since we were founded, reflects this plan. We believe we have largely completed steps (a) through (d), and we plan to continue to pursue the other strategic objectives described above.
[b]…Statement of Operations Components
Revenues [/b]
Our products consist of the NxStage System One cycler, an electromechanical device used to circulate the patient’s blood during therapy; a single-use, disposable cartridge, which contains a preattached dialyzer, and dialysate fluid used in our therapy. We sell our products in two markets: the chronic market and the critical care market. We define the chronic market as the market devoted to the treatment of ESRD patients in the home and the critical care market as the market devoted to the treatment of hospital-based patients with acute kidney failure or fluid overload. We offer a different configuration of the System One for each market. The FDA has cleared both configurations for hemodialysis, hemofiltration and ultrafiltration. Our products may be used by our customers to treat patients suffering from either condition, although the site of care, the method of delivering care and the duration of care are sufficiently different that we have separate marketing and sales efforts dedicated to each market.
We derive our revenues from the sale and rental of equipment and the sale of the related disposable cartridges and treatment fluids. In the critical care market, we generally sell the cycler and disposables to hospital customers. In the chronic market, customers generally rent the machine and then purchase the related disposable cartridges and treatment fluids based on a specific patient prescription. We generally recognize revenues when a product has been delivered to our customer, or, in the chronic market, on a monthly basis in accordance with a contract under which we supply the use of a cycler and the amount of disposables needed to perform a set number of dialysis therapy sessions during a month. Our contracts with dialysis centers for ESRD patients include purchase and rental terms providing for the sale of cartridges and fluids to accommodate up to 26 treatments a month per patient and the monthly rental of System One cyclers. These contracts typically have a term of one year and are cancelable at any time by the dialysis clinic with 30 days’ notice. Under the contract, if home hemodialysis is prescribed, supplies are shipped directly to patient homes and paid for by the treating dialysis clinic. We also include vacation delivery terms, providing for the free shipment of products to a designated vacation destination. We derive an insignificant amount of revenues from the sale of ancillary products, such as extra lengths of tubing. We do not currently derive any revenues from service contracts. Over time, as more chronic patients are treated with the System One and more systems are placed in patient homes under monthly agreements that provide for the rental of the machine and the purchase of the related disposable cartridges and treatment fluids, we expect that a recurring revenue stream will become a meaningful component of our revenues.
Cost of Revenues
Cost of revenues consists primarily of direct product costs, including material and labor required to manufacture our products, depreciation and maintenance of System One cyclers that we rent to customers, production overhead and the cost of purchasing system components from vendors which we then resell to our customers. It also includes the cost of inspecting, servicing and repairing equipment prior to sale or during the warranty period. The cost of our products depends on several factors, including the efficiency of our manufacturing operations, the cost at which we can obtain products from third party suppliers, and the design of the products.
We are currently operating at negative gross profit as we are building a base of recurring revenues. We expect the cost of revenues as a percentage of revenues to decline over time for two general reasons: first, we anticipate that increased sales volume will lead to efficiencies in purchases, production and reduced material costs. Second, we have plans to introduce several process and product design changes that have inherently lower cost than our current products. We expect that over time unit cost of revenues will become less than unit revenues as we build the scale of our operations.
Operating Expenses
Research and Development. Research and development expenses consist primarily of salary and benefits for research and development personnel, supplies, materials and expenses associated with product design and development, clinical studies, regulatory submissions, reporting and compliance and expenses incurred for outside consultants or firms who furnish services related to these activities. We expect research and development expenses will continue to increase in the foreseeable future as we seek to further enhance our System One and related products, but not as rapidly as other expense categories as we have substantially completed basic development of the System One.
Selling and Marketing. Selling and marketing expenses consist primarily of salary and benefits for sales and marketing personnel, travel, promotional and marketing materials and other expenses associated with providing clinical training to our customers. Included in selling and marketing are the clinical educators, usually nurses, we employ to teach our customers about our products and prepare our customers to instruct their patients in the operation of the System One. We anticipate that selling and marketing expenses will continue to increase as we broaden our marketing initiatives, particularly in the chronic market, to increase public awareness of the System One, as we add additional sales and marketing personnel and due to variable compensation plans tied to future sales growth…
…The increase in selling and marketing expenses was the result of several factors. Approximately $2.7 million of the increase was due to higher salary and benefits resulting from increased headcount, approximately $0.8 million of the increase related to higher travel expenses and the balance of the increase was due to a generally higher level of sales and marketing activity in both the chronic and critical care markets. We increased our sales force from six sales representatives as of December 31, 2004, to 20 sales representatives as of December 31, 2005. We anticipate that selling and marketing expenses will continue to increase in absolute dollars as we broaden our marketing initiatives, particularly in the chronic market, to increase public awareness of the System One and as we add additional sales and marketing personnel. …"
If you’re interested in the complete report: http://biz.yahoo.com/e/060301/nxtm10-k.html