Medical-device manufacturer Ingen Technologies Inc. in Yucaipa (IGTG.PK) recently agreed to distribution deals worth $10 million in the Middle East and Asia.

Ingen signed distributor agreements with Batterjee Medical Group in Saudi Arabia and with Taipei, Taiwan-based Progressive International Holding Co. in December. The manufacturer will distribute its Oxyview respiratory products to those markets.

"Our export contracts include minimum purchases of 10,000 units a month," said Scott Sand, Ingen's chief executive officer and chairman. "We've started initial Oxyview deliveries with Batterjee and expect an order for 50,000 units in the near future."

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But before Ingen delivers Oxyview to Asia, the company needs to obtain the International Organization for Standardization-13485 medical-device certification. Ingen needs the ISO certification to comply with the new trade agreements between the United States and Asia, Sand said. The company expects to obtain that certification by March.

Ingen used a market survey of its products to entice business. That survey was prepared by InTouch Life Sciences LLC in Raleigh, N.C. Word-of-mouth among patients and clinicians about Ingen products helped secure the deals in Asia and the Middle East, Sand said.

Ingen's Oxyview product is a pneumatic gauge that provides oxygen-flow data and informs nurses of any leaks or malfunctions in the oxygen line. The gauge is attached to oxygen tubes just below a patient's neck. The product is manufactured at Ingen's Ontario plant, which houses all of the company's tooling and processes.

"Depending on our growth and cooperation with the city of Yucaipa, we may look into bringing the manufacturing to Yucaipa for 2010," he said.

Ingen uses a contract manufacturer, Accent Plastics Inc. in Corona, to process and package its Oxyview product.

As the company grows, Ingen plans to expand its business to Europe, which represents the manufacturer's largest market. Ingen is negotiating distribution deals in India and hopes to have a contract signed this month, Sand said.

"I see Ingen taking on additional medical-device products in the future," said Chief Operations Officer Chris Wirth. "And although it's hard in this business because we have to go through all these approval processes, keeping it simple really helps us out."

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Photo By Dan Elliott

Scott Sand, the CEO of Ingen Technologies in Yucaipa, holds Oxyview, which is a pneumatic real-time oxygen-flow meter to be used with oxygen cylinders and other devices.

Sand founded Ingen in 1999. The company develops, markets and distributes medical respiratory and diagnostics products as well as applications for emergency response, aviation, military and consumer markets.

Ingen claims to be the largest manufacturer of gravity-independent in-line oxygen-flow meters. The devices are used in the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, including emphysema and chronic bronchitis. It is estimated that up to 600 million people may suffer from COPD worldwide.

In 2006, Ingen purchased all intellectual property rights for the Oxyview technology from its inventors, Richard Campbell and Francis McDermott.

Ingen distributed its first Oxyview product in 2007 and plans to release its next respiratory product, OxyAlert, this year. That product will be the first digital gas monitor with a wireless remote. OxyAlert will replace the gauge on all oxygen-delivery systems, Sand said. Data can be retrieved remotely.

"The doctors like our products because they help cut down on mishaps which should add a confidence level to the medical industry," Wirth said.

Ingen's executive team includes Thomas Neavitt, chief financial officer; Dr. Stephen O'Hara, director; Dr. John Finazzo, director; Jeff Gleckman, marketing director; Yong Sin Khoo, director; Rick Weed, general counsel; and Peter Wilke, attorney.

Sand has been in medical-device industry more than 25 years. As a young man he worked with his father who built some of the first fluoroscopy for cardiovascular surgeons in the 1970s. He has since taken six companies public and introduced half a dozen medical products.

"I couldn't say where Ingen will be five or 10 years from now," Sand said. "With the market and the economy the way it is, it's an uphill battle, but hopefully we will have three or four more products to distribute."