REDpoint International inks first distributor for innovative IV sleeve

When REDpoint International first tested its latest medical device on a patient in Seattle, Chuck Nokes, the Vancouver-based company's president and CEO, realized life at his young firm was about to change dramatically.

REDpoint's device, known as the StedLine IV Sleeve, is designed to stabilize an intravenous needle when fastened to a patient. Without the use of tape or glue, the disposable sleeve absorbs yanks and tugs that cause IV catheters to fail.

“We had doctors and nurses coming to us and saying, 'When can we get this?'” recalled Nokes. “I asked [the patient] how the sleeve was and she said, 'It was miserable. I couldn’t sleep because doctors and nurses kept coming in – even at three o’clock in the morning – to see this new device.' That was an 'ah-ha' moment for me.”

REDpoint publicly introduced the sleeve to the medical community earlier this month, at the Puget Sound Infusion Nurses Conference in Seattle. There, the company said demand for the device was clear.

“We were amazed at some of the big companies [at the conference] that were coming over to us and saying, 'Let’s talk, tell me about this device,'” said REDpoint Co-founder and Vice President of Business Development Valerie Vance.

The company expects to supply the sleeve to hospitals, nursing homes and home infusion companies, using infusion product distributors. Seattle's McCormick Medical Distribution (MMD) has signed on as the first distributor to carry the device.

“Chuck’s team has done a great job of identifying two issues – tape and glue,” said Jon McCormick, president of MMD. “You have people in nursing homes who often forget their arm is attached to a machine. The machine falls, the tubing rips, and the glued lock can rip skin right off their arm.”

For REDpoint, the StedLine IV Sleeve represents a much less capital-intensive product compared to the company's first device, a wheelchair tilting instrument called the Versatilt.

“They’ll probably try and sell that product line [the Versatilt] to someone where it fits just a little bit better so they can concentrate on what I would call softer goods,” said Ron Arp, a spokesperson for REDpoint. “This IV sleeve is a much easier product to make, ship and handle.”

With an eye on the future, and 11 additional StedLine products in the pipeline, Arp said he expects the company to sell millions of sleeves throughout the $14 billion worldwide infusion therapy marketplace.

“REDpoint is looking to build a family of like-minded, similar products,” said Arp. “They have a couple more

that are weeding their way through the necessary approvals process that will probably be ready to launch within the next 12 months. Then they have a couple more right behind them. It’s a staged introduction that I think will be pretty exciting for this little upstart company here in Vancouver.”