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ResMed
Share price on Dec. 31, 2019: $155.01
Share price on Dec. 31, 2020: $212.56
Change: +37%
ResMed (NYSE:RMD) likely looked at 2020 as an opportunity to continue to grow its sleep and respiratory care business. Instead, the company found itself on the front lines of a global pandemic.
As COVID-19 swept the globe, ResMed, a maker of noninvasive ventilation devices, largely for treating sleep apnea, stepped forward to help produce ventilation devices for those infected with the virus who couldn’t breathe while invasive ventilators were in short supply.
“I think we ended up increasing ventilation production by 3.5 times during that span,” ResMed sleep and respiratory business president Jim Hollingshead told MDO in the fall. “As we made thousands and thousands of vents, we were able to service a lot of demand. … During that early crisis period of March, April, May, it was a huge pivot for everybody and I was proud of what we were able to accomplish.”
AdvaMed promoted clinical evidence that revealed the benefits of non-invasive ventilators for use in less severe cases of COVID-19-related respiratory issues, followed by ResMed receiving a contract worth $31.98 million to produce 2,550 ventilators in the summer.
Even as demand for sleep care devices declined during the pandemic, ResMed’s financial results shot up, thanks to the demand for its ventilators in the fight against the virus.
All the while, the company remained focused on its efforts to change the landscape in other spaces, as Hollingshead said remote diagnostics remain the future of sleep and respiratory care. The company continued to produce outside of ventilators, too, with the launch of its AirTouch N20 CPAP nasal mask with a memory foam cushion.
While disruption came for ResMed, like most other companies, as a result of the pandemic, the company is looking to continue to build on the growth it saw in 2020.
“We’re really focused on the patient experience,” Hollingshead said. “Our industry was already headed there. Our offerings were already headed there, but we’re going to drive harder and faster on those things.
“That’s the trend we’re going to continue to try and pioneer in our space. … COVID created so much disruption in healthcare, but there’s an opportunity here for us to continue to use digital tools to get patients more access to good care.”
