After its spinoff from BD, embecta forges new identity

The January ribbon cutting at embecta’s new global headquarters in Parsippany was the latest step for one of the world’s largest pure-play diabetes management companies. “It was a really important step. But it was more than just a symbolic step,” CEO Devdatt (Dev) Kurdikar told NJBIZ following the ceremony.

In fact, embecta continues to establish its own identity after spinning off from BD in April 2022. The moves have been deliberate in forging that brand, even down to the lower-case spelling of its name. And while the embecta name and branding are relatively new, its history in the diabetes care category operating as BD’s Diabetes Care business dates back to 1924 and the development of the world’s first specialized insulin syringe. Today, embecta is the leading producer of diabetes injection devices, manufacturing approximately 8 billion instruments annually for an estimated 30 million patients.

“We are building on a nearly 100-year legacy of pioneers in diabetes care by becoming an independent public company,” Kurdikar said last April when the spinoff was announced. “As the largest producer of diabetes injection devices in the world, embecta is an established leader with unmatched manufacturing expertise, global distribution and commercial capabilities in over 100 countries. We are now better positioned to drive shareholder value and accelerate growth by investing in both organic and inorganic innovation, which will help give people living with diabetes the knowledge and tools they need every day.”

The company was operating out of BD’s space in Franklin Lakes until late last year before finding its own facility at 300 Kimball Drive in Parsippany, which will serve as the hub for 130 employees here in New Jersey. Kurdikar estimates that six months were spent refurbishing the 55,600-square-foot office suite.

“Obviously when you’re your own company, you want your own space,” Kurdikar explained. “And it was a very exciting day because the space is designed for people to collaborate, people to innovate. It’s equipped with the right technology so we can have meetings with our colleagues around the world because more than half of our workforce is actually outside the United States.”

The suite features ample open workspace with areas for collaboration featuring the latest video conferencing technology, huddle rooms, and reservable private spaces, as well as a showroom for product demonstrations and on-site customer meetings. CBRE served as embecta’s partner in choosing, designing and building out the office.

“This feels like this is embecta now,” said Kurdikar. “This is our own space. And I think it also speaks to the way we’ve designed the space. It’s very airy. It’s very open. We got the right technology. This just makes it more conducive for people to actually come in the office and work with their colleagues.”

While the opening of the Parsippany location was more than just symbolic, as Kurdikar stressed, he said that it is the next step in developing the embecta brand identity.

“With every day we get a little further apart from BD,” said Kurdikar. “But at the same time, the moment you step into a space, which has embecta branding, the embecta logo. Every employee is an embecta employee. It just gives you a different sense being in a space that’s your own.”

Kurdikar said he is excited about continuing to build the company’s legacy here in New Jersey and contributing to the state’s robust life science and innovation communities. “We have been in this business now for almost 100 years. We are rooted in New Jersey,” Kurdikar explained. “We certainly didn’t want to dislocate and move out of New Jersey for the sake of it. We have about 130 employees, and we wanted to be mindful about the potential dislocation it causes when you move offices. We talked about the challenge of getting people back to work. And then you add in a pretty dramatic commuting change for most people, and you’re going to lose some talent. And we have some great talent over there that we didn’t want to lose.”

“We’re pleased that embecta has chosen to make a long-term commitment to New Jersey, adding to the roster of life sciences and medical technology companies that make the core of the Garden State innovation economy,” Gov. Phil Murphy said when the Parsippany headquarters opened. “Diabetes is one of the world’s most pressing health care issues, with an enormous cost burden and a societal impact that extends to friends, loved ones and caregivers. embecta’s vision of a life unlimited by diabetes is closely aligned with our own efforts to invest in, and expand, the state’s public health infrastructure.”

Kurdikar said New Jersey’s medical device and medical tech innovation ecosystem, as well as the talent the state boasts in those sectors, were considerations that went into the thinking about where to open embecta’s headquarters. “With a number of our employees currently making their homes in New Jersey, the ability to tap into one of the nation’s most significant highly educated, experienced medical technology talent, and easy access to international airports and interstate highways, we see Parsippany as the ideal location to establish our worldwide headquarters,” Kurdikar said in a January news release.

As for what’s next for embecta and areas of focus this year and beyond, Kurdikar said that like other companies, embecta is trying to maintain and optimize its core business and finding ways to grow. But there are also things that embecta needs to do that are unique to its situation as a newly spun-off company.

“You can imagine that when you’re spun off, when you’ve been part of a much bigger business and now, you’re out on your own, you have to build up a lot of infrastructure,” Kurdikar explained. “You have to hire talent that did not exist in the division. You’re putting in your own new [enterprise resource planning] system. You have to set up your own distribution system network. So, our folks are busy with doing a lot of that separation work.”

Kurdikar is particularly excited about the potential opportunities embecta can pursue that might not have been possible when the company was a division of BD. “Now we have the ability, and we will make the investments that we think are necessary for this company to flourish,” he said. And he described some of the advantages that come from that new independence.

“A smaller company is certainly much faster, more innovative, more customer-focused, and can drive decisions quickly,” he said. “And we have our own balance sheet.” That creates an opportunity to take the cash generated from the sale of current products and reinvest in the business in new programs, product development, or even strengthen the balance sheet for business development.

He stressed that his team is hard at work trying to make sure embecta thrives. “But it’s going to flourish if we can actually continue to bring innovations and make life better for people with diabetes,” said Kurdikar. “So that’s what we’re focused on.”