I-Stat's $60 Million Gamble

Executive Summary

I-Stat, the pioneer in point-of-care diagnostics, is paying Abbott $60 million to break off a five-year-old distribution arrangement. That's a lot of money for a company that lost close to $60 million last year and has never made a dime. But i-Stat executives say it's the only way for their company to thrive and become profitable. The deal with Abbott never reached hoped-for sales goals, although Abbott met minimum targets. I-Stat has spent the better part of the past year shoring up its executive management team and building a sales and marketing infrastructure so that it can hit the ground running when the deal terminates in December.