EUR 850.00 For Business Accounts Only

Morningstar | Fresenius SE Continues to Vertically Integrate in Healthcare Services and Injectable Therapies

Fresenius SE’s prowess in dialysis and injectable therapies has created opportunities to vertically integrate into several medical service and technology businesses by organic and inorganic means. Through its partial ownership of Fresenius Medical Care, the company seeks to benefit from that unique entity's position as the top dialysis service and product provider. In the U.S., this segment operates a convenient network of dialysis clinics at a similar scale as key peer DaVita, serving about three fourths of the U.S. dialysis outpatient population between the two firms. Fresenius has established a number of clinics in more fragmented international markets, too, where it has a relatively long runway for growth by opening or acquiring new clinics. Fresenius leads the dialysis product market primarily by providing hemodialysis equipment and consumables to clinics around the world. Additionally, Fresenius has diversified its interests beyond the clinic by providing home hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis tools.Fresenius focuses on being a reliable provider of injectable therapies in its Kabi segment. This strategy requires Fresenius to efficiently manufacture safe and high-quality solutions, and because of this core competency, Fresenius has been a net beneficiary of competitor missteps in recent years. Fresenius also provides the pumps to automatically administer injectable therapies. By integrating into a hospital's workflow and systems, Fresenius aims to benefit from recurring consumable sales, which are considered in group purchasing organization contracts with its pumps. Fresenius is also pursuing the biosimilar market, which could pay off starting in 2019. Through its Helios and Vamed segments, Fresenius provides services related to healthcare facility operation, management, and construction. In its Helios segment, it aims to provide top-quality hospital services in Germany, Spain, and Latin America, and it continues to look for acquisition opportunities especially in the latter two geographies. In Vamed, it helps caregivers operate more efficiently by providing construction project management, ongoing operations management, and post-acute care services.