{ "docId": "019dd923-622c-750b-8b9a-40e2965928db", "docSlug": "e5bffbaac707", "documentTitle": "TransMedics (TMDX)", "authorId": "58_Scorpion_Capital", "authorName": "Scorpion Capital", "documentKindSlug": "research-note", "documentKindLabel": "Research note", "sourceTypeSlug": "short_seller", "sourceTypeLabel": "Short seller", "presentationDate": "2025-01-10 00:00:00", "orientation": "landscape", "aspectRatio": 1.3333334, "pageNumber": 24, "pageCount": 342, "prevPage": 23, "nextPage": 25, "slideType": "villain_critique", "function": "name_villain", "density": "dense", "nDataPoints": 6, "notes": "The slide uses a 'villain' framing to attack the company's business model as exploitative of the US healthcare system.", "elementsJson": [ "paragraph", "quote_block" ], "metadataConfidence": 0.95, "imagePath": null, "slideHref": "/slides/019dd923-622c-750b-8b9a-40e2965928db/24", "deckHref": "/decks/019dd923-622c-750b-8b9a-40e2965928db", "deckJsonHref": "/decks/019dd923-622c-750b-8b9a-40e2965928db.json", "deckAnchorHref": "/decks/019dd923-622c-750b-8b9a-40e2965928db#slide-24", "components": [ { "bbox": null, "kind": "callout", "text": "TransMedics pump is the kind of obscene, unnecessary contraption that can only exist in the US healthcare system – the Medicare equivalent of the $10,000 toilet seat, $400 screw, and other schemes by defense contractors to fleece the federal government.", "attrs": null, "subkind": null, "toolName": "Visual emphasis", "toolSlug": "visual-emphasis", "confidence": null, "componentId": "019dd953-70f3-714d-84bf-1286894752ad", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null }, { "bbox": { "h": 0.25, "w": 0.86, "x": 0.07, "y": 0.07 }, "kind": "paragraph", "text": "No one bothered to manufacture a warm perfusion pump for 50 years prior to TransMedics, as static cold storage worked fine. But you can't scam Medicare for a $70-90K consumable if you sell ice, plus another $50K to $300K in air transport fees...", "attrs": null, "subkind": "paragraph", "toolName": null, "toolSlug": null, "confidence": null, "componentId": "7b8eca72-fc05-4f66-9eb8-e44f373bf5d6", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null }, { "bbox": { "h": 0.12, "w": 0.86, "x": 0.07, "y": 0.83 }, "kind": "quote", "text": "The problem with the marketing is that they've expanded use which doesn't need to be expanded... You're replacing a very cheap technology that costs a few thousand dollars with one that costs $100,000... patient and graft survival are no different.", "attrs": null, "subkind": "testimonial", "toolName": null, "toolSlug": null, "confidence": null, "componentId": "2c68ea65-782f-4bfc-aa26-60020dfe3935", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null }, { "bbox": { "h": 0.15, "w": 0.86, "x": 0.07, "y": 0.47 }, "kind": "quote", "text": "Why should it cost $70,000-80,000 for disposables? The disposables are essentially plastic tubings and plastic containers and cartridges... It is, no question, overpriced... there's no question NRP is picking up.", "attrs": null, "subkind": "testimonial", "toolName": null, "toolSlug": null, "confidence": null, "componentId": "2d3108dd-581e-4008-a628-dfa624a950d6", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null }, { "bbox": { "h": 0.15, "w": 0.86, "x": 0.07, "y": 0.65 }, "kind": "quote", "text": "I don't think there's any magic to TransMedics per se. It's got cute bells and whistles; it travels. Let's face it: there's no secret sauce in this... there's a low threshold to jump over.", "attrs": null, "subkind": "testimonial", "toolName": null, "toolSlug": null, "confidence": null, "componentId": "d7e65cfa-cd32-4f6a-91d2-b3b4090297f1", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null }, { "bbox": null, "kind": "quote", "text": "\"Why should it cost $70,000-80,000 for disposables? The disposables are essentially plastic tubings and plastic containers and cartridges, and that's more than the cost of a brand-new luxury car that you're paying for a set of things that you throw in the garbage, essentially. It is, no question, overpriced...there's lots of precedence for this sort of stuff happening in the healthcare industry...you have all these other devices that are coming in, and the price will go down...on top of which...there's no question NRP is picking up.\" — Transplant surgeon and transplant program director at a leading Northeast academic center; \"I don't think there's any magic to TransMedics per se. It's got cute bells and whistles; it travels. Let's face it: there's no secret sauce in this. Perfusion is in many ways perfusion and, in this case, normothermic perfusion is normothermic perfusion. It would be very hard to ascribe a special quality to one modality necessarily over another. If you can get that with one device comparably to another and logistically it's less challenging and certainly a whole lot less costly, then you go that way, there's no question. So, I think there will be a low threshold to jump over.\" — Transplant hepatologist in a leadership role at Harvard/Massachusetts General Hospital; \"The problem with the marketing is that they've expanded use which doesn't need to be expanded. In other words, they're talking about an $8 billion industry. That means that every organ would be pumped on the machine at $100,000; it's ridiculous. You're replacing a very cheap technology that costs a few thousand dollars with one that costs $100,000...one thing that you can take away from all of these studies also is that the patient and graft survival are no different between the cold storage and machine perfusion...\" — One of the top liver transplant surgeons in the world, based at a leading academic center", "attrs": null, "subkind": null, "toolName": "Authority citation", "toolSlug": "authority-citation", "confidence": null, "componentId": "019dd953-70f3-714d-84bf-1610bf469618", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null }, { "bbox": { "h": 0.02, "w": 0.3, "x": 0.07, "y": 0.96 }, "kind": "source-note", "text": "Source: Scorpion Capital consultation calls with experts", "attrs": null, "subkind": null, "toolName": null, "toolSlug": null, "confidence": null, "componentId": "dbb6296c-4b74-45e4-ab08-231b33ad433b", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null } ], "metrics": [], "tools": [], "frameworks": [ { "name": "antagonist-introduction", "slug": null, "matchId": "9385638e-8559-4959-b326-f91904efb43d", "evidence": "The slide frames TransMedics as a 'villain' exploiting the healthcare system.", "confidence": 0.9 } ], "arcBeats": [ { "to": 30, "from": 12, "beatId": "072007ec-5fd3-4416-b852-0e181a364efd", "arcName": "Overcoming the Monster", "arcSlug": "overcoming-monster", "beatName": "Exposure of Contradictions", "beatSlug": null, "evidence": "The section highlights contradictions in TransMedics Group Inc.'s statements and actions.", "position": 1, "confidence": 0.8, "parentBeatName": null, "parentBeatSlug": null } ], "loops": [], "imagePathAlt": null, "thumbSrc": null, "thumbSrcAlt": null, "locked": true }