Omnicell.com Files for $57.5-Million Stock Offering

Omnicell.com, a health care inventory systems provider that recently introduced an online business, plans to raise as much as $57.5 million through an initial public offering.

The company, based in Palo Alto, was created in 1992 to sell systems to automate the management of medical supplies and drugs. Its products are essentially computerized storage cabinets that hold medical supplies or pharmaceuticals.

The cabinets let nurses and doctors electronically record their use of supplies. That information can then be shared with, for example, their hospital’s computer systems. This enables administrators to more easily track transactions and inventory levels and bill patients.

Omnicell.com has installed the systems in more than 1,300 health care facilities, producing almost $53 million in revenue last year. The company plans to generate additional revenue from its Omnicell Commerce Network.

That online service, introduced in November, links buyers and sellers of medical supplies using software provided by Commerce One Inc. To date, Omnicell.com has signed up five buyers, including Rush Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Medical Center in Chicago, and three suppliers.

Omnicell.com filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission to sell common shares. The number of shares to be sold and their price will be disclosed later.

Omnicell.com said that the market for its service has room to grow, citing forecasts from Forrester Research Inc. that the value of U.S. drug and medical transactions processed through electronic systems will reach $44 billion in 2003 from $1 billion in 1999.

However, Omnicell.com also said that it faces challenges from companies such as Neoforma.com Inc. and Medibuy.com Inc., which link buyers and sellers of medical supplies via online systems. In addition, Omnicell.com faces threats from Cardinal Health Inc. and McKesson HBOC Inc., other providers of medical-supply automation systems who are also moving to build online exchanges.