So the news is finally out about CryoPort starting "a pilot shipping program for a leading global diagnostic testing company". After a healthy delay, I presume not entirely at the desire of CryoPort, the news comes forth. Now for those who closely monitor CryoPort, this news is both long awaited, but somewhat anticlimactic.
What most of the investors that I have spoken with really want to know is "WHO" are the companies that CryoPort is doing business with? It is nice to say "a leading shipping company" (we learned later that it was FedEx), or a "leading global diagnostic testing company" (we learned later that it is ... ? )
There are posters on message boards that have thrown the name Quest Diagnositcs (NYSE: DGX) out there as a possible user of the CryoPort Express. Actually, I have also heard that name on several occassions, so in my opinion, where there is smoke, there might be fire. Hopefully the details will be forthcoming so we can know for sure.
In an effort to get ahead of the game, I have spoken with a number of people regarding Quest Diagnostics to try and determine a ballpark figure for the number of shipments that they are actually shipping. In my research, I have received similar numbers from two different sources that I believe to be reliable. From one source I heard an amount of "90,000 shipments every day of the year". From the other source, "over 32 million shipments per year". (For the math challenged out there, 90,000 x 365 = 32,850,000. So the numbers seem to be in line with each other.) Neither of these figures came to me directly from either company, so I have to keep some measure of doubt in there for now.
I have also heard, regardless of who the client is, that CryoPort will be controlling the entire process in this relationship. I have no idea as to how much of the 32 million shipments will eventually go through CryoPort, but I have "heard" (not confirmed by either company) that Quest would like move a large percentage of its shipping to the new shipping method if the pilot programs are successful. Now that might just be wishful thinking, but, if the other rumors out there on various sites and boards are accurate regarding the "million square foot European manufacturing facility", I would have to come to the conclusion that whatever the amount is, it is a LOT.
In my opinion, CryoPort is at the edge of something very big. There are not too many opportunities in an investor's lifetime to get into a company that can truly revolutionize an industry. Those types of opportunities are genuinely unique and make a difference in people's lives not just for a few years, but for generations to follow.
I think that we just might have one of those opportunities here with CryoPort.
DISCLOSURE: I worked with CryoPort from late 2004 thru August 2007. I assisted them in the process of becoming a public company in 2005 and I am pretty comfortable with the story. On my private equity side, both my clients, and myself personally, own stock in CryoPort and I also personally own some warrants. For the record, I am not consulting to them at this time and have not personally spoken with management about the status or operations of the company since the fall of 2007.
