Item 1. Business
ITEM 1. BUSINESS
General
Inogen, Inc. is a medical technology business that primarily focuses on respiratory health. We develop, manufacture, and market innovative respiratory health products, including portable oxygen concentrators, or POCs, used to deliver supplemental long-term oxygen therapy to patients suffering from chronic respiratory conditions and the Simeox ® product for airway clearance treatment. Our proprietary Inogen One ® and Inogen Rove ® systems concentrate the air around the patient to offer a source of supplemental oxygen 24 hours a day, seven days a week with a battery and can be plugged into an outlet when at home, in a car, or in a public place with outlets available. While often used concomitantly with stationary oxygen concentrators and oxygen compressed gas tanks, our POCs are designed to 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. Our Simeox product is a technology-enabled airway clearance and mucus management device predominantly aimed at serving patients with bronchiectasis, which is a condition that presents as the lung's bronchi are damaged and widened in patients with cystic fibrosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or other chronic respiratory diseases.
Corporate history
We were incorporated in Delaware on November 27, 2001. On February 14, 2014, we completed an initial public offering of common stock and began trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market, trading under the ticker symbol “INGN”.
We incorporated Inogen Europe Holding B.V., a Dutch limited liability company, on April 13, 2017. On May 4, 2017, Inogen Europe Holding B.V. acquired all issued and outstanding capital stock of MedSupport Systems B.V., or MedSupport, and began operating under the name Inogen Europe B.V. We merged Inogen Europe Holding B.V. and Inogen Europe B.V. on December 28, 2018. Inogen Europe B.V. is the remaining legal entity. We completed the acquisition of New Aera, Inc., or New Aera, on August 9, 2019. On September 14, 2023, we completed the acquisition of all of the issued and outstanding capital stock of Physio-Assist SAS, or Physio-Assist, and its wholly-owned subsidiary PhysioAssist GmbH.
The market
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
We are focused on oxygen therapy and other opportunities in the global respiratory care market. We believe that our portable oxygen therapy solutions can help patients with chronic respiratory conditions, including patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD.
COPD is a group of lung diseases including chronic bronchitis and emphysema. The main cause of COPD is smoking, but other factors like air pollution, secondhand smoke and dust, as well as fumes and chemicals can cause COPD. There is currently no cure for COPD, and it is a progressive and debilitating disease that is characterized by a gradual loss of lung function and airflow limitation that is not fully reversible. The symptoms of COPD can range from chronic cough and sputum production to insufficient levels of oxygen in the blood and severe shortness of breath.
COPD has a huge impact on patients and the healthcare system. According to a report published by the Forum of International Respiratory Societies in 2022, an estimated 200 million people in the world have COPD. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, in the United States estimates that prevalence of COPD among adults 18 years or older was approximately 6.1% based on CDC data of age-adjusted prevalence of COPD from 2011 to 2021. COPD is a major cause of disability and the sixth leading cause of death according to the CDC. In terms of economic impact, the total economic cost from COPD in the United States was projected to be approximately $49 billion in 2020 with close to 925,000 COPD emergency department visits in 2020.
A peer-reviewed article in the New England Journal of Medicine has stated that long-term oxygen therapy has been shown to help COPD patients who have severely low blood oxygen or hypoxemia. Hypoxemic patients are unable to convert oxygen found in the air into the bloodstream in an efficient manner. Over time it can lead to a lack of oxygen in organs and tissues, known as hypoxia, and acute respiratory failure. As COPD progresses into later stages, patients may need long-term oxygen therapy as part of their treatment. Other diseases including cystic fibrosis or congestive heart failure may lead to lower oxygen in the bloodstream and may also benefit from long-term oxygen therapy.
3
Oxygen therapy
Inogen created its first POCs with a goal of creating products that allow patients the chance to remain ambulatory while managing the impact of their disease. Traditionally, oxygen patients have relied on stationary oxygen concentrator systems for use in the home and oxygen tanks or cylinders for mobile use, which we refer to as the delivery model. The tanks and cylinders must be delivered regularly and contain 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 to enable mobility within their homes.
We believe the following factors have hindered the market acceptance of POCs:
• to obtain POCs, many patients are dependent on home medical equipment providers, which may have significant investments in the physical distribution infrastructure to support the delivery model for stationary devices and therefore may be disincentivized to encourage adoption of POCs;
• home medical equipment providers cannot easily convert their businesses to non-delivery models in oxygen due to low total reimbursement for oxygen therapy, capital expenditure constraints, investments that are spread across multiple product lines, and uncertainty around reimbursement rate changes;
• due to the nature of the capped reimbursement structure, patients' lack of ability to use their insurance benefits to switch from oxygen tanks or liquid deliveries to POCs; and
• constrained manufacturing costs of conventional POCs, driven by home medical equipment provider preference for products that have lower upfront equipment cost.
Bronchiectasis
We expanded our addressable market opportunity into the bronchiectasis market with the acquisition of Physio-Assist in September 2023. Physio-Assist developed and manufactures Simeox, a technology-enabled airway clearance device with a proven efficacy and safety profile. Simeox has been on the market in Europe and several other markets since prior to the acquisition and was cleared in December 2024 by the FDA for use in the United States. The device is used to treat a condition in the lungs known as bronchiectasis, where the lung’s bronchi become damaged and widened. Bronchiectasis is often present in cystic fibrosis and COPD patients. Simeox is used in pulmonary rehabilitation centers, as well as by patients at home. Simeox has expanded our product offering to serve COPD and other chronic respiratory disease patients who suffer from bronchiectasis with an innovative, non-invasive, and next generation airway clearance solution.
We believe that Inogen can potentially access a large growing bronchiectasis market opportunity in the U.S. following receipt of 510(k) clearance for the Simeox 200 device in December 2024. We intend to commercialize Simeox through the purchase of the product initially, followed by recurring sales of device disposables. We will begin efforts to obtain reimbursement coverage in the first quarter of 2025 for the Simeox product in the U.S.
Business strategy
We believe there is an opportunity to grow portable oxygen therapy usage and develop the market further to help patients with chronic conditions breathe better and help providers improve patient outcomes. Our strategy for expanding our business and growing the market includes:
1. Grow our core business. We believe we have an opportunity to drive penetration of POC-based oxygen therapy versus other oxygen therapy modalities. We also believe that we have the opportunity to grow by expanding the countries and regions where our products are marketed and sold.
2. Enhance our business through innovation. We are committed to the ongoing innovation to meet the needs of patients, providers, and our business-to-business partners to manage lower blood oxygen and shortness-of-breath associated with COPD and other chronic conditions.
3. Support adoption of Inogen products through clinical evidence and key opinion leaders' advocacy . We believe that we can develop the market and expand growth opportunities by educating providers and generating clinical evidence. Our clinical approach involves investing in clinical studies and engaging with key opinion leaders, or KOLs, through our Scientific Advisory Board. The KOLs are focused on advocating for the right therapy for patients and changing the behavior of prescribers.
4
Our products
Our Inogen One and Inogen Rove portable oxygen systems provide patients who require long-term oxygen therapy with a reliable, lightweight solution that we believe allows patients the chance to remain ambulatory while managing the impact of their disease and eliminates dependence on both oxygen tanks and cylinders. We have created a market leading portfolio of POCs.
POC product features
We market our current portable product offerings, the Inogen Rove and Inogen One systems, as ambulatory solutions for long-term oxygen therapy. The Inogen ® Rove 4 can operate up to 96 months when used for up to five hours per day, and the Inogen ® Rove 6 and the Inogen One G5 ® can operate up to 96 months when used for up to eight hours per day. The Inogen One G4 ® can operate up to 60 months when used for up to eleven hours per day. Servicing of sieve beds, filters, and accessories can be performed by patients themselves for all of our current portable product offerings. The technology in our Inogen One and Inogen Rove systems are effective for nocturnal use.
All of our portable oxygen systems are equipped with Intelligent Delivery Technology, a form of pulse-dose technology from which the patient receives a bolus of oxygen upon inhalation. Pulse-dose technology was developed to extend the number of hours an oxygen tank would last and is generally used on all ambulatory long-term oxygen therapy devices. Our proprietary conserver technology utilizes differentiated triggering sensitivity to quickly detect a breath and ensure oxygen delivery within the first 250 milliseconds of inspiration, the interval when oxygen has the most effect on lung gas exchange. During periods of sleep, respiratory rates typically decrease. Our systems actively respond to this changing physiology through the use of proprietary technology that increases bolus size. Our Intelligent Delivery Technology is designed to provide effective levels of blood oxygen saturation during sleep and all other periods of rest and activity.
We have also launched Inogen Connect, a wireless connectivity platform for the Inogen One G4, Inogen One G5, Inogen Rove 4 and Inogen Rove 6 consisting of a front-end mobile application for use by long-term oxygen therapy users and a back-end database portal for use by homecare providers. The Inogen Connect application, or app, is compatible with Apple and Android platforms and includes patient features such as oxygen purity status, battery run time, product support functions, notification alerts, and remote software updates. We believe features of the back-end database portal such as remote troubleshooting, equipment health checks, and a location tracker will drive operational efficiencies for home oxygen providers and lower the total cost of servicing oxygen therapy patients.
We released our latest portable oxygen concentrator, Rove 4, in the U.S. and European Union in October 2024. The Inogen Rove 4 is among the lightest products on the market and has among the highest oxygen production capabilities. The performance parameters around our systems allow us to serve ambulatory long-term oxygen patients based on their clinical needs. Our products enable us to address a patient’s particular clinical needs, as well as lifestyle and performance preferences.
Stationary oxygen concentrator
We market our own 5-liter stationary oxygen concentrator, the Inogen At Home, capable of delivering continuous flow of oxygen for the patients who require it. The Inogen At Home is one of the smaller, quieter and lower weight devices in this category. We also supply lower cost third-party manufactured stationary concentrators to our rental patients who require secondary sources of oxygen as a part of their CMS contract or to meet other clinical or payor requirements.
Airway clearance
We added Simeox, an airway clearance device, to our portfolio through the acquisition of Physio-Assist in September 2023. Simeox has been commercialized in Europe and several other markets for several years and was recently cleared by the FDA for use in the United States in December 2024. Simeox uses an innovative technology of oscillating negative pressure to liquify mucus in the bronchi and help patients evacuate it by coughing and/or leveraging postural drainage. A particular advantage of this technology is that it can be used by patients capable of generating productive cough, regardless of the body size, chest wall abnormalities or back pains. The efficacy and safety of Simeox has been demonstrated in 10 clinical trials. It is marketed in Europe under EU Medical Devices Directive 93/42/EEC, or MDD, regulations.
5
Domestic sales and marketing
In the United States, we market and distribute our products directly to consumers through a wide variety of direct-to-consumer sales and marketing strategies, including consumer advertising, an inside sales staff, and a physician referral model. Of the $218.5 million of our 2024 revenue derived from the United States, approximately 38.2% represented sales to traditional home medical equipment providers, distributors (including our private label collaborator) and resellers, 35.7% represented direct-to-consumer sales, and 26.1% represented direct-to-consumer rentals.
We believe we were the first oxygen therapy manufacturer to employ a direct-to-consumer marketing strategy, meaning we advertise directly to patients, process their physician paperwork, and provide clinical support as needed. While other manufacturers have also begun direct-to-consumer marketing campaigns to drive patient sales, we believe we are the only manufacturer of POCs that employs a direct-to-consumer rental strategy in the United States, meaning we bill Medicare or insurance on the patient's behalf. To pursue a direct-to-consumer rental strategy, our manufacturing competitors would need to meet national accreditation and state-by-state licensing requirements and secure Medicare billing privileges as well as compete with the home medical equipment providers to whom many of our manufacturing competitors sell across their entire homecare businesses.
Our direct-to-consumer sales and marketing efforts are focused on generating awareness and demand for our Inogen One, Inogen Rove and Inogen At Home systems among patients, physicians and other clinicians, and third-party payors.
Our direct-to-consumer rental marketing efforts are focused on informing prescribers of the benefits of our products in order to serve patients earlier at the point of diagnosis and prescription while capturing a higher proportion of the life-time value of prescribed oxygen therapy. Our prescriber sales team is focused on accelerating the rental growth and building relationships with prescribers. We believe that these efforts are complementary with our focus on generating clinical evidence in the future and will increase our ability to further expand and develop the market.
Patients who choose to use their Medicare or private insurance benefits typically rent our systems. Those who purchase our products outright are typically patients who are not eligible to use their insurance benefits due to their capped rental status or exercise their personal preferences. Our ability to rent to Medicare patients directly, bill Medicare and other third-party payors on their behalf, and service patients in their homes requires that we hold a valid Medicare supplier number, are accredited by an independent agency approved by Medicare, and comply with the different licensure and process requirements in the 50 states in which we serve patients.
We use a variety of direct-to-consumer marketing strategies to generate interest in our solutions among current oxygen therapy patients. After a patient contacts us, we guide them through product selection and insurance eligibility, and, if they choose to move forward, process the necessary reimbursement and physician paperwork on their behalf as well as coordinate the shipping, instruction, and clinical setup process. In accordance with Medicare regulations, we do not initially contact patients directly and contact them only upon an inbound inquiry or upon receipt of a physician’s order.
We work with private payors to become an in-network provider of oxygen therapy solutions where possible, which we expect will reduce patient co-insurance amounts associated with using our products. We believe that additional in-network associations will result in both increased conversion of our initial leads, as well as direct referrals from insurance companies in some cases.
We also sell to resellers and traditional homecare providers in the United States that choose to deploy our products to long-term oxygen therapy patients either through insurance reimbursement or retail. These customers market the benefits of our products to oxygen therapy patients through consumer advertising and/or retail locations or to physicians through field-based prescriber sales representatives.
We believe that in addition to the marketing efforts employed by our business customers, our own direct-to-consumer marketing efforts in the United States result in patient interest that our business customers field. In addition to generating consumer demand, we believe our products can create value for our business partners by either creating a retail sale opportunity for them or by reducing the need for costly home deliveries associated with the delivery model for oxygen tanks.
As of December 31, 2024, we employed 356 people in the United States and Europe in our Sales and Marketing organization.
6
International
Approximately 34.9% of our total revenue was from outside the United States in 2024. We sell through distributors, resellers, and home medical equipment providers in certain markets within Europe and several other markets. To date, we have sold our products in a total of 65 countries outside the United States through distributors or directly to large “house” accounts, which include gas companies and home oxygen providers. For international sales, we sell to and bill the distributor or house accounts directly, leaving the patient billing, support, and clinical setup to the local provider. As of December 31, 2024, we had 333 people located in the United States who focused on selling our products and providing service and support to distributors and house accounts worldwide and 23 in-house and contract employees and independent employees located in Europe who provided sales and customer support services to a portion of our international customers. No single international customer and no single foreign country represented more than 10% of our total revenue in 2024, 2023 or 2022.
Our wholly-owned subsidiary, Inogen Europe B.V. operates a European customer support site in the Netherlands. This site offers multi-lingual customer service and sales support to improve our European customer support at lower cost. Also, in support of our European operations, we produce our Inogen Rove 6 concentrators and perform related repair activities using a contract manufacturer, Foxconn, located in the Czech Republic to improve our ability to efficiently service our European customers. Physio-Assist sells its Simeox product throughout Europe and several other markets and manufactures the product in its Montpelier, France location.
Concentration of customers
We primarily sell our products to traditional home medical equipment providers, distributors, and resellers in the United States and in foreign countries on a credit basis. We also sell our products direct-to-consumers on a primarily prepayment basis. One customer represented more than 10% of our net accounts receivable balance with a net accounts receivable balance of $3.3 million as of December 31, 2024. One customer represented more than 10% of our financing receivable balance with a balance of $6.5 million as of December 31, 2024. Two customers each represented more than 10% of our net accounts receivable balance with net accounts receivable balances of $8.6 million and $5.0 million, respectively, as of December 31, 2023.
We rent products directly to consumers for insurance reimbursement, which resulted in a customer concentration relating to Medicare’s service reimbursement programs. Medicare’s service reimbursement programs accounted for 56.3%, 67.7% and 77.0% of rental revenue in 2024, 2023 and 2022, respectively, and accounted for 9.5%, 13.7% and 11.6% of total revenue for 2024, 2023 and 2022, respectively. Accounts receivable balances relating to Medicare’s service reimbursement programs (including held and unbilled receivables, net of allowances) amounted to $1.1 million or 3.7% of total net accounts receivable as of December 31, 2024 compared to $2.1 million, or 4.9%, of total accounts receivable as of December 31, 2023.
Customer support
We believe it is important to provide patients with quality customer support to achieve satisfaction with our products and optimal outcomes. As of December 31, 2024, we had a dedicated customer service team that was trained on our products, a clinical support team made up of licensed nurses or respiratory therapists, a patient intake team, an order intake team, and a dedicated billing services team. We provide our patients with a dedicated 24/7 hotline, allowing direct access to our customer service representatives who can handle product-related questions. Additionally, clinical staff is on call 24/7 and available to patients whenever needed by the patient or the customer service representative. Our rental intake staff supports patients who wish to use their rental insurance benefits to receive our products and services. Our dedicated billing services team is available to answer patient questions regarding invoicing, reimbursement, and account status during normal business hours. We receive no additional reimbursement for patient support, but we provide high-quality customer service to enhance patient comfort, satisfaction, and safety with our products.
Third-party reimbursement
As a provider of home oxygen, Inogen participates in the Medicare Part B, Supplementary Medical Insurance Program, which was established by the Social Security Act of 1965. For our rental revenue, we rely significantly on reimbursement from Medicare and private payors. Medicare reimbursement has historically been based on fixed fee schedules. In cases where we rent our long-term oxygen therapy solutions directly to patients, we bill third-party payors, such as Medicare or private insurance, for monthly rentals on behalf of our patients. We process and coordinate all physician paperwork necessary for reimbursement of our solutions. Our sales and rental intake teams are trained on how to verify benefits, review medical records and process physician paperwork. Additionally, an independent internal review is performed, and our products are not deployed until after physician paperwork is processed and reimbursement eligibility is verified and communicated to the patient.
7
We have contracts with Medicaid, Medicare Advantage, government and private payors that qualify us as an in-network provider for these payors. As a result, many patients can rent or purchase our systems at the same patient obligation as other in-network oxygen suppliers. Private payors typically provide reimbursement at a rate similar to Medicare allowables for in-network plans. We anticipate that private payor reimbursement levels will generally be reset in accordance with Medicare payment amounts.
We rely significantly on reimbursement from Medicare, Medicaid and private payors, including Medicare Advantage plans and patients for our rental revenue. For the year ended December 31, 2024, approximately 56.3% of our rental revenue was derived from Medicare’s traditional fee-for-service reimbursement programs.
Medicare revenue, including patient co-insurance and deductible obligations, represented 9.5% of our total revenue in the year ended December 31, 2024 and 13.7% of our total revenue in the year ended December 31, 2023.
For additional discussion of the impact of Medicare on our business, see “Risk Factors” herein.
Manufacturing and raw materials
We have been developing and refining the manufacturing of our oxygen concentrator systems since 2004. While nearly all of our manufacturing and assembly processes were originally outsourced, assembly of the compressors, sieve beds, and concentrators were brought in-house in order to improve quality control and reduce cost. In support of our European sales, we use a contract manufacturer located in the Czech Republic to manufacture high-volume products and perform product repairs to improve delivery to our European accounts. We typically enter into master service agreements with our major vendors for these components that specify supply requirements, quality and delivery terms. In certain cases, these agreements can be terminated by either party upon relatively short notice. We expect to maintain our assembly operations for our products at our facility in Plano, Texas. We also manufacture the Simeox device in a leased facility in Montpelier, France.
We use lean manufacturing practices to maximize manufacturing efficiency and eliminate waste. We rely on third-party manufacturers to supply components of our products. We have elected to source certain key components from single sources of supply where we deem it appropriate. In some cases, maintaining a single source of supply can allow us to control production costs and inventory levels and to manage component quality, but also may lead to supply availability risks and means our ability to maintain production is dependent on these single source suppliers, which may put us at an increased risk of supply disruption. In order to help mitigate against the risks related to a single source of supply, for certain components, we have initiated second sourcing initiatives to qualify alternative suppliers and develop contingency plans for responding to disruptions. This initiative has also resulted in reduced component costs. For additional discussion of potential risks related to our manufacturing and raw materials, please see the risk factor entitled “ Reduction or interruption in our supply of components and products may adversely affect our manufacturing operations and related product sales."
We currently manufacture our oxygen concentrators in a leased building in Plano, Texas and have a design facility at our Corporate Headquarters in Goleta, California, that we have registered with the Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, and maintain a Quality Management system for which we have obtained International Standards Organization, or ISO, 13485 certification. We also manufacture the Simeox device in a leased facility in Montpelier, France.
Our entire organization is responsible for quality management. Our Quality Assurance and Regulatory Affairs departments oversee quality management by tracking component, device and organization performance and by training team members outside the Quality Assurance and Regulatory Affairs departments to become competent users of our Quality Management system. By measuring component performance, communicating daily with the production group and our suppliers, and reviewing customer complaints, our Quality Assurance department, through the use of our corrective action program, drives and documents continuous performance improvement of our suppliers and internal departments. Our Regulatory Affairs department also trains internal quality auditors to audit our adherence to the Quality Management system. Our Quality Management system has been certified to ISO 13485:2016 by BSI, a notified body. In addition, we continue to operate the quality management system of Physio Assist as we move to fully integrate the systems, with its system also certified to ISO 13485:2016 by IMQ, its notified body.
As of December 31, 2024, we had 187 employees in operations, manufacturing, quality assurance, manufacturing engineering and repair in the United States.
8
Research and development
We are committed to ongoing research and development to stay at the forefront of the respiratory market. We use a combination of research and development staff along with third party resources to develop our products. As of December 31, 2024, our research and development staff included 28 engineers and scientists with expertise in air separation, compressors, pneumatics, electronics, embedded software, mechanical design, sensor, automation, connectivity, digital health, and manufacturing automation. The team is augmented with expertise and resources of our third-party partners specialized in medical device development. Our current research and development efforts are focused primarily on increasing functionality, improving design for ease-of-use, and reducing the total cost of ownership of our products, as well as developing our next-generation oxygen concentrators and further developing the Simeox product line. We have leveraged our 87 issued patents and intend to continue to seek ways to innovate to develop products and functionality improvements that enhance patient quality of life and to reduce costs through manufacturing and design improvements.
Competition
The long-term oxygen therapy market is a highly competitive industry. We compete with a number of manufacturers and distributors of POCs, as well as providers of other long-term oxygen therapy solutions such as home delivery of oxygen tanks or cylinders, stationary concentrators, transfilling concentrators, and liquid oxygen. Some of our competitors are large, well-capitalized companies with greater resources and other advantages than we have.
Our significant manufacturing competitors are Caire Medical (a subsidiary of NGK Spark Plug), DeVilbiss Healthcare (a subsidiary of Drive Medical), O2 Concepts, Precision Medical, Gas Control Equipment (a subsidiary of Colfax), Nidek Medical, 3B Medical, SysMed, iRhythm Technologies, Inc., and Belluscura. Respironics (a subsidiary of Koninklijke Philips N.V.) announced in early 2024 that it was leaving the U.S. portable oxygen concentrator market until further regulatory assessments but continues to have product in the market. This is not an exhaustive list of competitors. Given the relatively straightforward regulatory path in the oxygen therapy device manufacturing market, we expect that the industry will become increasingly competitive in the future. For example, some major competitors have implemented direct-to-consumer sales models, which may increase their competitiveness and sales to patients, and we have recently seen the cost per generated lead trend higher than historical averages that may in part be due to increased competition. However, the strategies of these major competitors are currently limited to direct-to-consumer sales and do not include direct-to-consumer rentals where they would be responsible to meet national accreditation and state-by-state licensing requirements and secure Medicare billing privileges. Manufacturing companies compete for sales to providers primarily on the basis of price, quality/reliability, financing, bundling, product features, and service.
For many years, Lincare, Inc. (a subsidiary of the Linde Group), Apria Healthcare, Inc., AdaptHealth Corp., Rotech Healthcare, Inc., and Viemed Healthcare, Inc. have been among the market leaders in providing respiratory therapy products, while the remaining market is serviced by local providers. Because of reimbursement reductions, we expect more industry consolidation and volatility in ordering patterns based on how providers are restructuring their businesses and their access to capital. In addition, providers may reduce or eliminate purchases from us due to our increased focus on building out a prescriber sales team and pursuing rentals directly, which could be in competition with our providers in the United States. Respiratory therapy providers compete primarily on the basis of product features and service, rather than price, since reimbursement levels are established by Medicare and Medicaid, or by the individual determinations of private payors.
Government regulation
Inogen's products, including the Inogen One and Rove systems, Inogen At Home systems, Simeox, and related accessories, are medical devices subject to extensive and ongoing regulation by the FDA, as well as other federal and state regulatory bodies in the United States and comparable authorities in other countries. The FDA regulations govern the following activities that we perform, or that are performed on our behalf, to ensure that medical products distributed domestically or exported internationally are safe and effective for their intended uses: product design and development, pre-clinical and clinical testing, manufacturing, labeling, storage, pre-market clearance or approval, record keeping, product marketing, advertising and promotion, sales and distribution and post marketed safety reporting.
9
FDA’s classification of medical devices and pre-market clearance and approval requirements
FDA classifies medical devices into one of three classes—Class I, Class II or Class III—depending on the degree of risk associated with each medical device and the extent of control needed to ensure safety and effectiveness. Most Class I devices and some Class II devices are exempt from pre-market review requirements. Class I devices are subject to the “general controls” of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, or FDCA, which include establishment registration and device listing, quality system requirements, labeling requirements, medical device reporting, and reporting of corrections and removals. Most Class II devices and some Class I devices require FDA clearance of a 510(k) pre-market notification prior to marketing. In addition to the general controls, Class II devices are subject to “special controls,” such as performance standards and guidance documents, as identified in the classification regulation for the device type. Class III devices require FDA approval of a pre-market approval application, or PMA, demonstrating reasonable assurance of safety and effectiveness of the device, prior to commercial distribution. Class III devices are those deemed by the FDA to pose the greatest risk, such as life-sustaining, life-supporting or implantable devices. Class III devices are subject to the general controls and any conditions of approval in the PMA approval order, which can include post-market study requirements. Novel devices that have not been classified are automatically classified into Class III. For such devices that are low-to moderate-risk, the manufacturer can submit a De Novo classification request to classify the device into Class I or Class II.
510(k) clearance pathway
When a 510(k) clearance is required, we must submit a pre-market notification to the FDA demonstrating that our proposed device is substantially equivalent to a legally marketed predicate device. By law, FDA is supposed to make a decision on a 510(k) within 90 calendar days of accepting the submission for review; however, as a practical matter, clearance often takes significantly longer. The FDA must accept the submission for substantive review and may require further information, including clinical data, to make a determination regarding substantial equivalence. If the FDA determines that the device is not substantially equivalent to a legally marketed predicate device, the FDA will issue a not substantially equivalent, or NSE, order. For a device that is the subject of an NSE, marketing authorization needs to be obtained through a new pre-market review submission (i.e., a 510(k), De Novo, or PMA) before the device can be commercially distributed. We obtained 510(k) clearance for the original Inogen One system on May 13, 2004. We market the Inogen One G4 and Inogen One G5 systems pursuant to the original Inogen One 510(k) clearance. We obtained 510(k) clearance for the Inogen At Home system on June 20, 2014. We obtained 510(k) clearance for the Rove 4 system on December 9, 2022 and 510(k) clearance for the Rove 6 system on June 30, 2023. We obtained 510(k) clearance for the Simeox airway clearance system on December 23, 2024.
De Novo authorization pathway
The De Novo authorization pathway, also referred to as “Evaluation of Automatic Class III Designation”, entails a request to the FDA to classify novel devices of low to moderate risk t into Class II or Class I. De Novo authorization is intended as a potential pathway for devices for which the 510(k) process is not an available pathway because there is no legally marketed predicate device to which to claim substantial equivalence. FDA review of a De Novo application may lead the FDA to authorize marketing of the device and classify it as either a Class I or II device, which can then serve as a predicate device for future 510(k) pre-market notification submissions.
Pre-market approval pathway
A pre-market approval application must be submitted to the FDA if the device cannot be cleared or authorized through the 510(k) or De Novo process. The pre-market approval application process is more demanding than the 510(k) pre-market notification process. A pre-market approval application must be supported by extensive data, generally including but not limited to, technical information, preclinical testing, clinical trials, manufacturing information, and labeling to demonstrate reasonable assurance of safety and effectiveness of the device.
After a pre-market approval application is submitted and the FDA determines that the application is sufficiently complete to permit a substantive review, the FDA will accept the application for review. The FDA has 180 days to review an “accepted” pre-market approval application, although the review of an application generally occurs over a significantly longer period of time and can take up to several years. During this review period, the FDA may request additional information or clarification of the information already provided. Also, an advisory panel of experts from outside the FDA may be convened to review and evaluate the application and provide recommendations to the FDA as to the approvability of the device. In addition, the FDA will conduct a preapproval inspection of the manufacturing facility to ensure compliance with quality system regulations.
10
Clinical trials
Clinical trials are almost always required to support pre-market approval and are sometimes required for 510(k) clearance and De Novo authorization. In the United States, these trials generally require submission of an application for an Investigational Device Exemption, or IDE, to the FDA. The IDE application must be supported by appropriate data, such as animal and laboratory testing results, showing the risks of the device do not outweigh the potential benefits to the subjects participating in the study and that the testing protocol is scientifically sound. The IDE must be approved in advance by the FDA for a specific number of patients unless the product is a non-significant risk device and, as such, eligible for abbreviated IDE requirements. Clinical trials for significant risk and non-significant risk devices require approval by the appropriate institutional review board(s), or IRB(s), that is responsible for oversight of the study. We, the FDA or the IRB may suspend a clinical trial at any time for various reasons, including a belief that the risks to study subjects outweigh the benefits. Even if a trial is completed, the results of clinical testing may not demonstrate the safety and efficacy of the device, may be equivocal or may otherwise not be sufficient to obtain approval or clearance of the product.
We have sponsored clinical studies and real-world data analyses that recently resulted in several publications in the areas of the following: use of POCs, impact of oxygen treatment modality and patient mobility on mortality and healthcare resource utilization, as well as the impact of ventilatory support in addition to oxygen therapy on exercise tolerance in patients with COPD. We have also sponsored clinical studies on the Simeox device through Physio-Assist both prior to and since the acquisition. We continue to invest in clinical research activities to support new product development, as well as expansion of the uses of its products and services.
Pervasive and ongoing regulation by the FDA and foreign agencies
Even after a device receives clearance or approval and is placed on the market, numerous regulatory requirements apply. These include:
• establishment registration and device listing;
• quality system regulations, which require device manufacturers to comply with both design control requirements and good manufacturing practice requirements (such as requirements for purchasing controls, document controls, production and process controls, labeling and packaging controls, control of nonconforming product, complaint handling, corrective and preventative actions, storage, handling, distribution, and servicing);
• labeling regulations (including FDA's Unique Device Identification requirements), the FDA's prohibitions against the promotion of devices for un-cleared, unapproved or “off-label” uses, and other requirements related to promotional activities;
• medical device reporting regulations, which require that manufacturers report to the FDA if their device may have caused or contributed to a death or serious injury or malfunctioned in a way that would likely cause or contribute to a death or serious injury if the malfunction were to recur;
• corrections and removals reporting regulations, which require that manufacturers report to the FDA corrections and removals of distributed devices (including repairs, modifications, adjustments, relabeling, destruction, or inspection of a device without physical removal) if undertaken to reduce a risk to health posed by the device or to remedy a violation of the FDCA that may present a risk to health; and
• post-market surveillance regulations, which apply, upon FDA order, to certain devices to help address important public health questions regarding the safety and effectiveness of a device.
11
After a device receives 510(k) clearance or De Novo authorization, any modification that could significantly affect its safety or effectiveness, or that would constitute a major change in its intended use, will require submission and clearance of a new 510(k). After a device receives PMA approval, all changes affecting the safety or effectiveness of the device must be reviewed and approved through a PMA supplement. The FDA requires each manufacturer to make this determination initially, but the FDA can review any such decision and can disagree with a manufacturer’s determination. We have modified various aspects of our Inogen One systems since receiving regulatory clearance, but we believe that new 510(k) clearances are not required for these modifications. If the FDA disagrees with our determination not to seek a new 510(k) clearance, the FDA may retroactively require us to seek 510(k) clearance or pre-market approval. The FDA could also require us to cease marketing and distribution and/or recall the modified device until 510(k) clearance or pre-market approval is obtained. Also, in these circumstances, we may be subject to additional enforcement action, including significant regulatory fines and penalties.
Failure to comply with applicable regulatory requirements can result in enforcement action by the FDA, which may include any of the following sanctions: warning letters, fines, injunctions, civil or criminal penalties, recall or seizure of our products, import detention, operating restrictions, partial suspension or total shutdown of production, refusing our request for 510(k) clearance or pre-market approval of new products, rescinding previously granted 510(k) clearances or withdrawing previously granted pre-market approvals.
As a medical device manufacturer, our manufacturing facilities are subject to periodic inspections and audits by the FDA, certain other regulatory agencies and authorities and our notified body. We have been periodically audited by these organizations and none have identified any major observations with our manufacturing facilities or Good Manufacturing Policies. International sales of medical devices are subject to foreign government regulations and registration, which may vary substantially from country to country. The time required to obtain approval by a foreign country may be longer or shorter than that required for FDA approval/clearance, and the requirements may differ. There is a trend towards harmonization of quality system standards among the European Union, United States, Canada and various other industrialized countries.
Licensure, registrations, and accreditation
In April 2009, we became an accredited Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetics, Orthotics, and Supplies Medicare supplier by the Accreditation Commission for Health Care for our Goleta, California facility for Home/Durable Medical Equipment Services for oxygen equipment and supplies. Our Medicare accreditation must be renewed every three years by passing an on-site inspection. Our current accreditation with Medicare is due to expire in May 2027. Several states require that durable medical equipment providers be licensed in order to sell products to patients in that state. Certain of these states require that durable medical equipment providers maintain an in-state location. Most of our state licenses are renewed on an annual or bi-annual basis. If we were found not to be in compliance with applicable state regulations regarding licensure requirements, we could lose our licensure in that state, which could prohibit us from selling our current or future products to patients in that state. Loss of any state licensure or operating without a required state license may also impact our Medicare enrollment, which requires us to be properly licensed in every state where we bill for Medicare reimbursement. Loss or suspension of our Medicare enrollment may also affect any Medicare competitive bidding program contracts we may apply for in the future. In addition, we are subject to certain state laws regarding professional licensure. We believe that our certified clinicians are in compliance with all applicable state laws. If our clinicians were to be found non-compliant in a given state, we would need to modify our approach to providing education, clinical support and customer service in such state until compliance is achieved.
Federal anti-kickback and self-referral laws
The Federal Anti-Kickback Statute prohibits, among other things, the knowing and willful offer, payment, solicitation or receipt of any form of remuneration overtly or covertly, in cash or in kind, in return for, or to induce the:
• referral of an individual to a person for the furnishing or arranging for the furnishing of items or services reimbursable under Medicare, Medicaid or other federal healthcare programs; or
• purchase, lease, or order of, or the arrangement or recommendation of the purchasing, leasing, or ordering of any good, facility, item or service reimbursable under Medicare, Medicaid or other federal healthcare programs.
The Federal Anti-Kickback Statute applies to our arrangements with our United States sales representatives, customers and healthcare providers, among others. Although we believe that we have structured such arrangements to comply with the Anti-Kickback Statute and other applicable laws, regulatory authorities may determine otherwise. Non-compliance with the Federal Anti-Kickback Statute can result in cancellation of our provider numbers and exclusion from Medicare, Medicaid or other federal healthcare programs, restrictions on our ability to operate in certain jurisdictions, as well as civil and criminal penalties, any of which could have an adverse effect on our business and results of operations.
12
Federal law also includes the Physician Self-Referral Law, commonly known as the “Stark Law,” which prohibits a physician from referring a patient to an entity with which the physician (or an immediate family member of the physician) has a financial relationship, for the furnishing of certain designated health services for which payment may be made by Medicare or Medicaid, unless an exception applies. Violation of the Stark Law could result in denial of payment, disgorgement of reimbursements received under a non-compliant arrangement, civil penalties and fees, and exclusion from Medicare, Medicaid or other federal healthcare programs. Although we believe that we have structured our provider arrangements to comply with current Stark Law requirements, regulatory authorities may determine otherwise.
Additionally, regulations issued for the Federal Anti-Kickback Statute and the Stark Law have undergone significant revisions, and it is reasonable to assume that revisions will occur in the future. While we have attempted to operate in compliance with these laws and regulations, our arrangements may ultimately be found to be not in compliance with applicable federal law.
Federal False Claims Act
The Federal False Claims Act, as amended, or the False Claims Act, provides that the federal government, and under certain circumstances a private party or whistleblower, may bring claims against a person who knowingly presents or causes to be presented a false or fraudulent request for payment to the federal government or uses a false statement or false record to get a claim approved. Violations of the False Claims Act can result in penalties up to $28,619 for each claim, plus three times the amount of damages that the federal government sustained. Moreover, a claim including items or services resulting from a violation of the Federal Anti-Kickback Statute constitutes a false or fraudulent claim for purposes of the False Claims Act. The Company is not aware of any pending claims against it under the False Claims Act.
Civil monetary penalties law
The Federal Civil Monetary Penalties Law grants authority to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Office of Inspector General, or OIG, to seek civil monetary penalties, or CMPs, against an individual or entity based on a wide variety of conduct including violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute, Stark Law, and False Claims Act. An entity that offers to or transfers remuneration to any individual eligible for benefits under Medicare or Medicaid that such entity knows or should know is likely to influence such individual to order or receive from a particular provider, practitioner, or supplier any Medicare or Medicaid payable item or service may be liable for CMPs. We sometimes offer customers various discounts and other financial incentives in connection with the sales of our products. While we have processes in place to manage our discount and incentive programs, the federal government may find that our marketing activities violate the law. If we are found to be in non-compliance, we could be subject to CMPs of up to $50,000 for each wrongful act and exclusion from Medicare, Medicaid and other federal healthcare programs. In addition, to the extent we are found to not be in compliance, we may be required to curtail or restructure our operations. Any penalties, damages, fines, exclusions, curtailment or restructuring of our operations could adversely affect our ability to operate our business and our financial results.
State fraud and abuse provisions
Many states have also adopted anti-kickback and self-referral laws similar and statutes similar to the Federal Anti-Kickback Statute and False Claims Act that apply to DMEPOS suppliers regardless of the payor source, and violations of such laws could result in fines, penalties and restrictions on our ability to operate in these jurisdictions. The Company is not aware of any pending claims against it under such state laws.
HIPAA
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, or HIPAA, established uniform standards governing the conduct of certain electronic healthcare transactions and protecting the security and privacy of individually identifiable health information maintained or transmitted by most healthcare providers, health plans and healthcare clearinghouses, which are referred to as “covered entities.” Among the standards that have been promulgated under HIPAA’s regulations: the Standards for Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health Information, which restrict the use and disclosure of certain individually identifiable health information, the Standards for Electronic Transactions, which establish standards for common healthcare transactions, such as claims information, plan eligibility, payment information and the use of electronic signatures, the Security Standards, which require covered entities to implement and maintain certain security measures to safeguard certain electronic health information, including the adoption of administrative, physical and technical safeguards to protect such information, and the Breach Notification Standards, which establish standards for notification in the event of a breach of unsecured individually identifiable health information.
13
In 2009, Congress passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, or ARRA, which included sweeping changes to HIPAA, including an expansion of HIPAA’s privacy and security standards. ARRA includes the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health, or HITECH, which, among other things, made HIPAA’s privacy and security standards directly applicable to business associates of covered entities. A business associate is a person or entity that performs certain functions or activities on behalf of a covered entity that involve the use or disclosure of protected health information in connection with recognized healthcare operations activities. As a result, business associates are subject to significant civil and criminal penalties for failure to comply with applicable standards. HITECH also increased the civil and criminal penalties that may be imposed against covered entities, business associates and possibly other persons and gave state attorneys general new authority to file civil actions for damages or injunctions in federal courts to enforce the federal HIPAA laws and seek attorney fees and costs associated with pursuing federal civil actions.
In addition to federal regulations issued under HIPAA, some states have enacted privacy and security statutes or regulations that, in some cases, are more stringent than those issued under HIPAA. In those cases, it may be necessary to modify our planned operations and procedures to comply with the more stringent state laws. If we fail to comply with applicable state laws and regulations, we could be subject to additional sanctions. Any liability from failure to comply with the requirements of HIPAA, HITECH or state privacy and security statutes or regulations could adversely affect our financial condition. The costs of complying with privacy and security related legal and regulatory requirements are burdensome and could have a material adverse effect on our results or operations.
Physician Payments Sunshine Act
In addition, there has been a recent trend of increased federal and state regulation of payments made to physicians and other healthcare providers. The Physician Payments Sunshine Act, enacted as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act, imposed public reporting requirements on medical device manufacturers for payments or other transfers of value made by them to physicians and teaching hospitals, as well as ownership and investment interests held by physicians and their immediate family members. The Substance Use-Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment for Patients and Communities Act enacted in 2018, extended the reporting and transparency requirements under the Physician Payments Sunshine Act to physician assistants, nurse practitioners and other mid-level practitioners, with reporting requirements going into effect in 2022 for payments made in 2021. Failure to submit required ownership and investment interest information may result in civil monetary penalties of up to an aggregate of $211,000 per year (or up to an aggregate of $1.4 million per year for “knowing failures”), for all payments, transfers of value or ownership or investment interests that are not timely, accurately and completely reported in an annual submission. Certain states also mandate implementation of compliance programs, impose restrictions on device manufacturer marketing practices and/or require the tracking and reporting of gifts, compensation and other remuneration to physicians and other healthcare professionals.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act also requires healthcare providers to voluntarily report and return an identified Medicare or Medicaid overpayment within 60 days after identifying the overpayment. Failure to repay the overpayment within 60 days will result in the claim being considered a “false claim” and the healthcare provider will be subject to False Claims Act liability.
International regulation
International sales of medical devices are subject to foreign governmental regulations, which vary substantially from country to country. The time required to obtain clearance or approval by a foreign country may be longer or shorter than that required for FDA clearance or approval, and the requirements may be different.
14
In the European Union, medical devices are regulated by the European Union Medical Devices Regulation (EU) 2017/745, or MDR, which became applicable on May 26, 2021 and replaced the EU MDD, with the EU MDD still applying to certain products that were approved under that process. The MDR and its associated guidance documents and harmonized standards to regulate the design, manufacture, clinical trials, labeling and adverse event reporting for medical devices. Devices that comply with the requirements of the MDR will be entitled to bear the European Conformity Marking, or CE Mark, indicating that the device conforms to the essential requirements of the MDR and, accordingly, can be commercially distributed throughout the Member States of the European Union, and additional Members States of the European Economic Area, or EEA, (i.e ., Norway, Lichtenstein and Iceland). The method of assessing conformity under the MDR varies depending on the type and class of the product, but normally involves a combination of self-assessment by the manufacturer and a third-party assessment by a notified body, an independent and neutral institution designated by a Member State country to conduct the conformity assessment. This third-party assessment may consist of an audit of the manufacturer’s quality system by reference to ISO 13485, review of technical documentation, and specific testing of the manufacturer’s device. Such an assessment may be required in order for a manufacturer to commercially distribute the product throughout the EEA. We have completed the necessary conformity assessment procedure required to allow us to affix the CE Mark to our oxygen therapy products and to commercialize our devices in the EEA, through the EU MDD and MDR processes. Our ISO 13485 certification was first issued on April 21, 2005, and our EC-Certificate was first issued on March 16, 2007. We received the CE Mark for our oxygen therapy products under the MDR on December 12, 2022.
Following the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union, known as “Brexit”, the MDR does not apply in the United Kingdom (except for Northern Ireland, which under the Northern Ireland Protocol is bound by certain EU laws). The medical device legislative framework in the United Kingdom is set out in the Medical Devices Regulations 2002, as amended. These Regulations are based on the previous medical device directives of the EU (including the MDD) but have been amended so that they function properly now the United Kingdom is no longer part of the European Union. The Medical Devices Regulations 2002 have introduced several changes including (but not limited to) replacing the CE mark with a UK Conformity Assessed, or UKCA, marking (although CE marks will be recognized potentially up until June 2030), requiring manufacturers outside of the United Kingdom to appoint a “UK Responsible Person” if they place devices on the Great Britain market and more wide-ranging UK device registration requirements.
Inogen has sold products in Canada since 2006 when we obtained our Medical Device License after obtaining appropriate licensure, accreditation, and meeting ISO Standard 13485. As of January 1, 2019, Health Canada implemented the Medical Device Single Audit Program as the sole mechanism for manufacturers to demonstrate compliance with the quality management system requirements of the Medical Device Regulations, replacing the Canadian Medical Devices Conformity Assessment System program.
In Australia, we must appoint an agent sponsor who will interact on our behalf with the Therapeutics Goods Administration, or TGA. We must also prepare a technical file and declaration of conformity to essential requirements under Australian law, provide evidence of CE Marking of the device and submit this information via our agent sponsor to the TGA in a Medical Device Application. On June 4, 2007, we received our Certificate for Inclusion of a Medical Device in Australia.
U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act
Also, the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and similar worldwide anti-bribery laws generally prohibit companies and their intermediaries from making improper payments to foreign officials. We cannot assure you that our internal control policies and procedures will protect us from reckless or negligent acts committed by our employees, manufacturers, distributors, partners, collaborators or agents. Violations of these laws, or allegations of such violations, could result in legal fees, fines, penalties or prosecution and have a negative impact on our business, results of operations and reputation.
Intellectual property
We believe that to maintain a competitive advantage, we must develop and preserve the proprietary aspect of our technologies. We rely on a combination of patent, trademark, trade secret and other intellectual property laws, non-disclosure agreements and other measures to protect our proprietary rights. Currently, we require our employees, public accountants, consultants and advisors to execute non-disclosure agreements in connection with their employment, consulting or advisory relationships with us, where appropriate. We also require our employees, consultants and advisors with whom we expect to work on our current or future products to agree to disclose and assign to us all inventions conceived during the workday, developed using our property or related to our business. Despite any measures taken to protect our intellectual property, unauthorized parties may attempt to copy aspects of our systems, sell counterfeit versions of our products, or obtain and use information that we regard as proprietary.
15
Patents
As of December 31, 2024, we had 32 pending patent applications and 87 issued patents relating to the design and construction of our respiratory devices. We anticipate it could take several years for the most recent of these patent applications to result in issued patents, if successful.
The 2023 acquisition of Physio-Assist added a significant number of issued and pending patent applications to Inogen’s portfolio. The additional patents and patent filings include U.S. and international pending and issued patents. The combined portfolio of Inogen and Physio-Assist include several categories.
Our patent portfolio contains four principal categories of patents and patent applications. One such category includes patents and patent applications directed to system and component designs that may be incorporated into Inogen’s oxygen therapy product line which includes the Inogen One G3, Inogen One G4, Inogen One G5, Inogen Rove 4, Inogen Rove 6, and the Inogen At Home oxygen concentrators. For example, U.S. patents 9,592,360 and 10,786,644 are directed to the Inogen One G3 design, U.S. patent 10,695,520 is directed to the design of the Inogen One G4, and U.S. patents 9,283,346, 10,004,869 and 10,869,986 are directed towards the Inogen at Home stationary oxygen concentrator. This category of patents expires in 2031 or later and may serve to deter competitors from reverse engineering or copying our design elements.
The second category of patents and patent applications within our portfolio pertains to operating features and design techniques. For example, U.S. patents 8,702,841; 9,220,864; and 9,283,346 are directed towards design features of the Inogen One G3, Inogen One G4, and Inogen at Home products. This category of patents expires in 2031 or later (without taking into account any patent term adjustments). These features and designs are developed to facilitate the design, manufacturing, and usefulness of our products. These patents may prevent competitors from achieving the same levels of optimization as found in our products.
A third category of patents and patent applications relates to system designs that may be directed to products in both oxygen and ventilation product categories. One example of a patent in this category is U.S. patent 9,907,926, which is directed to an oxygen concentrator for mechanical ventilation. This category of patents expires in 2023 or later (without taking into account any patent term adjustments). Patents and patent applications in this category and others may facilitate the design and development of future respiratory products that can serve patients in need of supplemental oxygen and or mechanical ventilation therapies.
A fourth category of patents and patent applications relates to the Simeox device and related airway clearance technologies and systems that were acquired as part of the Physio-Assist acquisition in 2023. These patents and patent applications provide coverage for the aspects of the Simeox device and potential improvements and adaptions that may be implemented into the device or similar devices in the future.
Trademarks
We own a number of United States registered trademarks that we use in our business. In addition, many of our trademarks are also registered for use in certain foreign countries where we have determined it is commercially advantageous to do so. We utilize our trademarks to represent the quality and goodwill of our products and company and monitor for any unauthorized use of our trademarks, taking action where we deem appropriate and necessary.
Human capital
At Inogen, we believe our employees are critical to our success and our ability to focus on product quality, continuous improvement, and outstanding customer satisfaction. The unique demands of our industry, together with the challenges of running an enterprise focused on the development, manufacture and commercialization of innovative products, require talent that is highly educated and/or has significant industry experience. Additionally, for certain key functions, we require specific expertise to oversee and conduct research and development activities and complex manufacturing requirements for our products. We seek the best people we can find and support them to be productive and engaged. We strive to ensure our measures of safety, remuneration and employee engagement are competitive with those of leading companies in our industry.
Employees
As of December 31, 2024, we had 766 full and part-time employees worldwide, consisting of 356 employees in sales, marketing, clinical and client services, 187 employees in operations, manufacturing, quality assurance, manufacturing engineering, and repair, 185 employees in general administration and 38 employees in research and development. None of our employees are represented by a collective bargaining agreement and we believe that our employee relations are good.
16
Employee culture
Inogen strives to instill a culture based on our foundational values of (1) We always do what is right, (2) Invest in people, and (3) Treat people right. This is activated through our five cultural pillars which are (1) Create Trust, (2) Inspire Initiative, (3) Achieve Together, (4) Invite Diversity, and (5) Make a Difference. Onboarding, leadership development and regular engagement surveys create a sustainable ecosystem for these values and culture pillars to thrive.
Additionally, all of our directors, officers, and employees are guided by our Code of Ethics and Conduct, which is published on the Investor Relations section of Inogen's website at: http://investor.inogen.com/ . The Code of Ethics and Conduct summarizes the compliance and ethical standards we expect of our employees and directors, the procedures for a suspected breach, and the consequences of any substantiated breach. The Code of Ethics and Conduct also constitutes Inogen’s Code of Ethics and Conduct under U.S. law and the Nasdaq exchange’s listing standards. It deals with conflicts of interest, confidential information, fair dealing with customers, suppliers, competitors, and healthcare professionals, and compliance with financial reporting, insider trading, and other financial market regulation.
Talent acquisition and development
As noted above we seek strong talent with subject matter expertise and provide competitive wages. We also promote from within and encourage Inogen employees to take advantage of learning opportunities and we provide financial support through a tuition reimbursement program to help employees complete their college education and be prepared for higher level positions. We have a strong leadership and manager program and standardized cultural onboarding for all associates.
Diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging and accessibility (DEIBA)
Diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging and accessibility are essential elements of Inogen’s business practices. We are committed to creating and maintaining a workplace in which all employees have an opportunity to participate and contribute to the success of the business and are valued for their skills, experience, and unique perspectives. The collective sum of the individual differences, life experiences, knowledge, inventiveness, innovation, self-expression, unique capabilities and talent that employees invest in their work represents a significant part of our culture as well as our reputation and achievements. We embrace employees’ diversity of background, experience, culture, and other characteristics that make employees unique. All employees are expected to exhibit conduct that reflects inclusion during work, at work functions on or off the work site, and at all other company-sponsored and participative events. Our DEIBA Taskforce and Inclusion Ambassador network help guide these efforts through programming and feedback to build a community of psychological safety and inclusion. Internal communications and celebration are further proof points for our efforts as we routinely measure employee engagement in these categories.
We maintain an equitable, market-based compensation architecture and proactively align our benefits, policies and practices with the philosophies, values, and culture pillars. Inclusive leadership programming and onboarding programs further support these efforts across the organization.
Inogen is committed to compliance with all applicable federal and state laws prohibiting discrimination in employment and, therefore, does not discriminate against its employees or applicants based on any legally recognized “protected class.” We perform an annual affirmative action review by job role, and we have a process which identifies pay or promotion discrepancies and ensures that we are equitable in our actions and decisions. Even in the case of reductions in force adverse impact analyses are completed to objectively test and inform our decisions. Consistent with the Americans with Disabilities Act and similar state and local laws, we work with qualified employees and applicants with disabilities in order to identify and provide reasonable accommodations that can enable them to perform their jobs. Inogen’s equal employment opportunity philosophy applies to all aspects of employment with Inogen including recruiting, hiring, job assignment, training, promotion, job benefits, compensation, discipline, and dismissal. Inogen has implemented policies, procedures, and trainings to ensure that any reports of potential discrimination or harassment are appropriately investigated and corrected.
Health and safety
Our approach to health and safety uses our management systems, preventative training, problem solving safety committees, and our quality culture to minimize workplace incidents and maximize the care taken for employees who suffer from a workplace incident, per our health and safety policy. Inogen also has a corporate wellness program to promote improved physical and emotional wellbeing.
17
Environmental matters
Our research and development and manufacturing processes involve the controlled use of hazardous materials, including flammables, toxics, and corrosives. Our research and manufacturing operations produce hazardous chemical waste products. We seek to comply with applicable laws regarding the handling and disposal of such materials. Given the small volume of such materials used or generated at our facilities, we do not expect our compliance efforts to have a material effect on our capital expenditures, earnings, and competitive position. However, we cannot eliminate the risk of accidental contamination or discharge and any resultant injury from these materials. We do not currently maintain separate environmental liability coverage and any such contamination or discharge could result in significant cost to us in penalties, damages, and suspension of our operations.
Climate Change
As a global respiratory therapy and medical device company, Inogen recognizes that greenhouse gas, or GHG, emissions affect our climate and pose a serious challenge to the environment—and ultimately to the global economy. We believe that everyone shares responsibility to improve energy efficiency and to reduce GHG emissions in the atmosphere. Inogen supports global and national efforts to mitigate the impact of climate change. Inogen is committed to complying with all applicable laws and regulations that help reduce GHG and encouraging market adoption of low GHG emission technologies. Our position on climate change policy is guided by five principles:
1. We believe that any global or national strategy to address climate change must be environmentally sustainable and economically viable.
2. We believe that any climate change policy should be technology-neutral and designed to encourage private sector innovation and investment so that emissions reductions can be achieved in the most efficient manner possible.
3. We believe that any global or national strategy to address climate change must be developed with input from stakeholder communication, including the public and private sectors, non-governmental organizations, academia, and investors.
4. We believe that any policy to regulate GHG emissions should provide a clear, stable framework that enables the private sector to invest accordingly, and that minimizes the market imbalances that can result from policies applied unequally within or among nations.
5. We believe that any policy to regulate GHG emissions should fairly account for companies that have already taken voluntary steps to reduce their GHG emissions.
Inogen is a responsible corporate citizen that has done business in 65 countries and territories around the world. Our business success and our environmental stewardship both depend on the efficiency of our global distribution network. Our long-term GHG reduction strategy is to optimize the processes that consume non-renewable resources within this network. We also recognize that, as a critical component of our customers’ supply chains, Inogen plays an important role in helping them operate in a more environmentally sustainable way.
Backlog
We run our operations on a just-in-time basis; however, the volatility of order intake may result in periods when incoming orders exceed our capacity. We do not currently have a backlog of orders that could not be fulfilled in our ordinary course of business. Further, our customers can change or cancel orders with limited or no penalty and limited advance notice prior to shipment.
Geographic information
During the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023, and 2022, substantially all of our long-lived assets were located within the United States. See Note 2 to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional information related to our U.S. and non-U.S. revenue.
Seasonality
We believe our sales may be impacted by seasonal factors. For example, we historically experienced higher sales revenue in the second and third quarters, as a result of consumers traveling and vacationing during warmer weather in the spring and summer months, but this may vary year-over-year. As more home medical equipment, or HME, providers adopt portable oxygen concentrators in their businesses, we expect our historical seasonality in the domestic business-to-business channel could change as well, which was previously influenced mainly by consumer buying patterns. Direct-to-consumer sales seasonality may also be impacted by the number of sales representatives and the amount of marketing spend in each quarter.
18
Corporate and available information
We were incorporated in Delaware in November 2001. Our principal executive offices are located at 859 Ward Drive, Suite 200, Goleta, California 93111. Our telephone number is (805) 562-0500. Our website address is www.inogen.com . We make available on our website, free of charge, our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, and any amendments to those reports, as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish it to, the SEC. Our SEC reports can be accessed through the investor relations page of our website located at http://investor.inogen.com . The SEC also maintains a website that contains our SEC filings. The address of the site is www.sec.gov .
We webcast our earnings calls and certain events we participate in or host with members of the investment community on our investor relations page of our website. In addition, we use our website http://investor.inogen.com as a means of disclosing information about our company, our products, our planned financial and other announcements, our attendance at upcoming investor conferences, and other matters. It is possible that the information we post on our website could be deemed material information. We may use our website to comply with our disclosure obligations under Regulation FD. Therefore, investors should monitor our website in addition to following our press releases, SEC filings, public conference calls, and webcasts. Corporate governance information, including our board committee charters, code of ethics, and corporate governance principles, is also available on our investor relations page of our website located at http://investor.inogen.com . The contents of our website are not incorporated by reference into this Annual Report on Form 10-K or in any other report or document we file with the SEC, and any references to our website are intended to be inactive textual references only.
Information about our executive officers
The following table provides certain information about our executive officers as of February 21, 2025.
Name
Age
Position
Kevin R. M. Smith
54
Chief Executive Officer, President and Director
Michael Bourque
62
Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Treasurer
Kevin P. Smith
54
Executive Vice President, General Counsel, Secretary & Business Development
Gregoire Ramade
55
Executive Vice President, Chief Commercial Officer
Kevin R. M. Smith has served as our President, Chief Executive Officer, and as a director since November 2023. Previously, Mr. Smith served as the CEO, President and Executive Director at Sirtex Medical, a medical device company, from October 2019 to October 2023, after serving as interim CEO from April 2019 to October 2019 and Executive Vice President of Sales & Marketing, Americas from August 2017 to April 2019. Mr. Smith also served as interim President and Chief Executive Officer from 2021 to 2022 and as a Director from February 2020 to June 2023 at OncoSec Medical, Inc., a biotechnology company. In his previous roles, Mr. Smith served as Executive Vice President of Business Development at Gel-e, Inc., as Chief Commercial Officer at Sensium Healthcare, as Global Vice President of Sales & Marketing at Teleflex, and in various sales and marketing roles in medical device companies. Mr. Smith holds an MBA in Global Management from University of Phoenix and a B.S. in Marketing from the University of Kentucky.
Michael Bourque has served as our Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Treasurer since March 2024. Most recently, Mr. Bourque served as Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of Chase Corporation from February 2021 to February 2024. He also served as Chief Financial Officer of Keystone Dental from April 2019 to September 2020, as Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of Analogic Corporation, and as Vice President of Finance for Axcelis Technologies. Mr. Bourque received a B.S. in Accounting from Bentley University and is a Certified Public Accountant.
Kevin P. Smith has served as our Executive Vice President, General Counsel, Secretary and Business Development since July 2024. Most recently, Mr. Smith served as General Counsel and Executive Vice President, Business Development of Sirtex Medical, a medical device company, from October 2018 to June 2024. In his prior roles, Mr. Smith served as Vice President and Associate General Counsel at Flexion Therapeutics, as General Counsel for the Danaher Life Sciences Platform, and in several senior legal leadership positions within Novartis Pharmaceuticals in Switzerland and Massachusetts. Before moving in-house, Mr. Smith worked for multinational law firms in New York, Silicon Valley, and London. Mr. Smith earned his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and his J.D. from Albany Law School.
19
Gregoire Ramade has served as our Chief Commercial Officer since January 2024 and served as our Senior Vice President of International Sales from November 2023 to January 2024. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Ramade served as Senior Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer of Vapotherm, Inc. from October 2020 to October 2023 and as Vice President, International Sales and Worldwide Marketing of Vapotherm since May 2016. Mr. Ramade previously served as Vice President of Global Marketing and Business Development at Becton Dickinson Medical-Pharmaceutical Systems, as Senior Marketing Director, Home Healthcare Solution at Philips Healthcare, and as Marketing Director EMEA Product Manager of Consumable Masks and Accessories at Philips Respironics. Mr. Ramade holds a B.A. in International Business with a minor in Economics from the American University of Paris and an MBA in International Business and Marketing from the Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chausses School of International Management.
20