No, it’s not an April Fool’s joke—BD officially bid farewell to its longstanding diabetes business on Friday, as the newly formed Embecta made its public debut on the Nasdaq.
The separation was nearly a year in the making. BD announced its intent to spin out its diabetes device-making operations into a separate company last May, when it said the scheme would allow BD to double down on its other core businesses.
The company was christened Embecta in December, with the name paying homage to its parent company Becton, Dickinson and Company with the “bect” at its core.
“While BD is proud of its heritage in the diabetes care category, we are just as excited to see our legacy advanced by Embecta as a newly independent, publicly traded corporation,” CEO Tom Polen said in a statement.
“Moving forward, each of our organizations will be able to focus on investment and innovation in our respective core businesses, support our customers and the patients they serve, drive strategic growth and enhance long-term shareholder value,” Polen said.
Embecta comprises BD’s entire diabetes business, which first launched in 1924 with the development of a specialized insulin syringe. Nearly a century later, the portfolio includes a range of syringes, insulin pen needles and a handful of accessories for both delivery methods, as well as the BD Diabetes Care app.
In total, for the 2021 fiscal year, the diabetes care segment brought in $1.16 billion in revenue for BD, up 7% from 2020’s $1.08 billion in earnings. Last year’s total represented just under 7% of BD’s total annual revenues.
In the spinout, BD shareholders received one share of Embecta’s stock for every five BD shares they held as of March 22. BD didn’t hold on to any ownership stake in its progeny.
When trading began on Friday, Embecta—using the ticker symbol “EMBC”—opened at a stock price of $32.50 but quickly dropped below the $30 mark in the first few minutes of trading.
The standalone company is led by CEO Devdatt Kurdikar, who joined BD in February 2021 as worldwide president of the diabetes business. He’s joined on the executive team by a handful of alumni from BD’s diabetes segment.
Embecta is headquartered in New Jersey and Massachusetts, with manufacturing sites located throughout the U.S., Ireland and China.