Becton Tossed $70 Million of Expired Test Materials in Spring

(Bloomberg) -- Becton Dickinson & Co. threw away $70 million in Covid-19 testing products during the spring as demand plummeted and the tests and their components expired, Chief Executive Officer Tom Polen said in an interview.

The tests were ordered in different markets around the world, including the U.S., but many orders were canceled, Polen said. About half of the discarded products were finished rapid Covid tests, and the rest were components such as analytical chemicals called reagents, he said. 

Becton “kept trying to sell it at lower prices, etcetera, to just move it and be able to put it to use for patients, but there wasn’t demand for it,” he said. “And it was at expiration anyway.”

The company was also limited by regulatory and packaging considerations, while high shipping costs posed another challenge, Polen said. 

The products were thrown away roughly from April through June of this year, during Becton Dickinson’s fiscal 2021 third quarter, when the company brought in $300 million in Covid diagnostic sales. Adjusted earnings per share for that quarter were $3.81, beating analysts’ average estimate of $3.05.

The company said it disclosed the disposal as an inventory write-off at the time.

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