Medical Device Link.

Edwards Lifesciences Corp., a leader heart valves and hemodynamic monitoring, has entered into a definitive agreement with Baxter International Inc. to sell certain assets related to its hemofiltration product line, also known as continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT). The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2009, pending regulatory approvals.

Under the terms of the agreement, Edwards will receive an initial cash payment of approximately $56 million from Baxter upon the close of the transaction. Additionally, Edwards will provide transition services to Baxter and expects to receive up to an additional $9 million based on revenue objectives to be achieved over the next two years. Edwards is not revising its previous 2009 earnings guidance as a result of this transaction.

“This transaction allows Edwards to better focus on its global strategic priorities,” said Carlyn D. Solomon, Edwards’ corporate vice president, critical care and vascular. “Baxter has been our long-term supplier and partner for this business, and we believe this product line will thrive under Baxter’s ownership. We express our sincere gratitude to the employees and clinicians that have partnered with us to make it a success.”

Hemofiltration, or CRRT, mimics the function of the kidneys 24 hours a day for patients with life-threatening kidney injuries or edema (fluid overload). CRRT provides a method of continuous, yet adjustable, fluid removal that can gradually remove excess fluid and the waste products that build up with the acute impairment of kidney function and is usually administered in an intensive care setting in the hospital. Baxter currently supplies products used in CRRT treatment globally. It has been the exclusive distributor of Edwards’s product in China, Latin America, and the United States. This product line is part of Edwards’s critical care business and represented approximately $50 million in sales in 2008, primarily in Europe.