Baxter International Inc.’s offer of $4 billion for Swedish hemodialysis manufacturer Gambro AB may be one of the largest medtech acquisitions of the year. [See Deal] Baxter CEO Bob Parkinson describes the deal as a bolt-on for an existing product space and well within Baxter’s announced strategy of growing its existing clinical markets. Of course the magnitude of the deal makes it “an adjacency with a capital A” Parkinson quipped in a conference call on December 4.
The dialysis industry has several segments divided between chronic and acute renal failure. The product segments include equipment for in-center...