REDpoint launches new product

REDpoint International on Wednesday publicly released a low-cost product that the Vancouver-based company hopes will give it inroads into a potentially vast market for a full line of medical infusion products.

The company’s StedLine IV Sleeve, introduced at the Puget Sound Infusion Nurses Conference in Seattle, is a disposable product that securely stabilizes an intravenous needle without the use of tape or adhesives. The sleeve should dramatically reduce the risk of IV failures and increase comfort for patients, Chuck Nokes, REDpoint’s president and CEO, said in a news release. The product recently won approval from the Food & Drug Administration.

REDpoint is aiming the IV sleeve, which will sell for about $5 through McCormick Medical Distribution of Seattle, at hospitals, nursing homes and home-infusion companies. The company expects to sell 2 million of the sleeves in the first year of distribution and increasing to 25 million in five years, Nokes said.

REDpoint is also planning a limited launch of two other products in 2012 in the StedLine line, with more products to follow, he said.

The company also offers a product called Versatilt, a device that tilts wheelchairs to provide safe treatment of patients while avoiding injuries to caregivers. The company has raised capital through family, friends and other private investors, and is focusing on getting its products to the market quickly to reduce its need for additional investment capital, Nokes said.

Formed in 2008, REDpoint operates with a handful of employees out of Nokes’ Vancouver home but is searching for commercial office space.