Coloplast

Coloplast A/S is a Danish multinational company that develops, manufactures and markets medical devices and services related to ostomy, urology, continence, and wound care.

Coloplast A/S

Company type	Publicly traded Aktieselskab
Traded as	Nasdaq Copenhagen: COLO B
Industry	Health care
Founded	1957; 68 years ago (1957)
Founder	Aage Louis-Hansen
Headquarters	Humlebæk , Denmark
Key people	Lars Rasmussen (Interim CEO) Niels Peter Louis-Hansen (Deputy chairman)
Products	Ostomy bags, continence products, urology products, wound dressings
Revenue	DKK 18.544 billion (2019/2020)[1]
Operating income	DKK 5.854 billion (2020/2021, before special items)
Total assets	DKK 13.499 billion (September 2021)
Total equity	DKK 5.928 billion (September 2021)
Number of employees	12,500 (FTE, September 2021)
Website	www.coloplast.com

History

Coloplast was founded in 1957 by Aage Louis-Hansen. His son Niels Peter Louis-Hansen owns 20% of the company and is deputy chairman.^[2] It employs more than 12,000 people and operates around the world, with sales activities in 53 countries and production in Denmark, Hungary, France, China, and the US.^[3] It has its global headquarters in Humlebæk, Denmark. Its United States operations and North American headquarters are based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The company manufactures and supplies products to hospitals and institutions, as well as wholesalers and retailers. In selected markets, Coloplast is a direct supplier to consumers.

The company had revenues of DKK 18.554 billion (US$2.45 billion) in 2020/2021. Europe constitutes its biggest market with 63% of sales, while 22% of sales are in North America and 15% in the rest of the world.^[1] Coloplast is listed on the Danish Stock Exchange, and has for a number of years been represented among the 20 most-traded shares in the country.^[4]

In 2016, Coloplast was listed as the 22nd most innovative company in the world (and among the 10 most innovative in Europe) by Forbes,^[5] after being listed by the magazine as 33rd the year before.^[6] The company has been featured^[when?] in Star Tribune's annual list of top employers in Minnesota.^{[citation needed]}

Acquisitions

In 2010, the company acquired Mpathy Medical Devices.^[7]

In November 2016, Coloplast acquired Comfort Medical for US$160 million. Comfort Medical was a direct-to-consumer medical supplier based in Coral Springs, Florida. Prior to the acquisition by Coloplast, Comfort Medical had acquired Medical Direct Club as well as Liberty Medical's urological division in 2015. In 2020, Coloplast announced the acquisitions of Hope Medical and Rocky Medical Supply, and integrated the organizations into Comfort Medical.^[8][9]

In November 2021, Coloplast announced the acquisition (from PAI Partners) of Atos Medical and its laryngectomy technology for €2.16 billion (US$2.49 billion).^[10][11]

Transvaginal surgical mesh lawsuits

In 2019, the US Food and Drug Administration ordered Coloplast and Boston Scientific to halt the sale and distribution of transvaginal surgical mesh implants for failure to prove their mesh products were safe and effective for the repair of pelvic organ prolapse.^[12] Coloplast was one of several companies that had previously settled multimillion-dollar lawsuits for damages caused by transvaginal mesh implants.^[12][13]