Medical Device Company Intelligence Reports provide a full review of the company's activities, from its origins to its latest corporate activity, including mergers and acquisitions, agreements, divestitures, major purchasing contracts and litigation. Sections are included on products, international activities and R&D, as well as a full, in-depth five year financial analysis. An introduction to each report and a full table of contents is provided for review. More than 60 Medical Device Company Intelligence Reports are currently available. Becton Dickinson and Company (BD), headquartered in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey, USA, manufactures and sells a broad range of medical supplies, devices, laboratory equipment and diagnostic products. The company's products are organised within three business segments: BD Medical, BD Biosciences and BD Diagnostics.

· BD Medical provides needles and syringes; IV catheters and infusion therapy products; insulin injection devices and lancets for diabetes care; surgical blades; ophthalmic surgery devices; sharps disposal containers; and home healthcare products such as thermometers and sports injury products. It is BD's largest division, representing around 55% of the company's total revenue. BD Medical holds the leading market positions for needles and syringes, infusion therapy and prefillable systems. Its products are organised within four areas: Medical Surgical Systems, Diabetes Care, Pharmaceutical Systems and Ophthalmic Systems.

· BD Diagnostics offers clinical and industrial microbiology, sample collection, specimen management, molecular diagnostics and immunodiagnostic test kits. It is BD's second-largest business, accounting for 30% of sales in 2006. The division is organised into two areas: Preanalytical Systems, which manufactures sample collection products; and Diagnostic Systems, which offers microbiology testing and molecular assay products. In December 2006, TriPath Imaging was acquired, the manufacturer of the SurePath liquid-based Pap test and other products for the detection, diagnosis, staging and treatment of cancer.

· BD Biosciences provides research and clinical tools to life scientists and clinicians. Principal products include fluorescence activated cell sorters, monoclonal antibodies and kits; reagent systems for life sciences research; products to aid in drug discovery and the growth of tissue cells; and diagnostic assays.

The profile focuses on BD's medical device activities which are included with the BD Medical and BD Diagnostics units. It does not cover BD Biosciences and only BD Diagnostics' devices for rapid diagnostic testing are included.

BD has made several changes to its business over the past year. Within its medical device operations, the company has exited two markets. In March 2007, it sold the BD.id Patient Identification System for managing specimen collections to Siemens Medical Solutions and, in September 2006, announced plans to exit the blood glucose monitoring market. The latter move affected only BD's blood glucose monitors and test strips. Other diabetes products such as insulin syringes, pen needles and lancets continue to be offered by the company. BD made this decision as it concluded the business would require high levels of investment and additional resources to enable BD to continue to gain ground in this increasingly competitive market. In the first quarter of 2007, BD received an unsolicited offer from Sanvita for its blood glucose monitoring operations, which it sold for US$20 million. Users of BD blood glucose monitors can, therefore, continue to use the products and Sanvita will continue to supply test strips that work with BD Logic and Paradigm Link monitors.

A key focus for BD continues to be the development and promotion of medical devices that improve user safety by reducing the incidence of accidental needlesticks and contact with bodily fluids. With growing global demand for these products, the company is currently increasing its manufacturing capacity. In February 2005, BD announced a US$31 million expansion of its facility in Sandy, Utah, USA, which should be completed in autumn 2007. The expansion is part of a US$175 million development of BD's production facilities in Utah, Nebraska and South Carolina for safety-engineered devices. The Sandy facility will provide increased manufacturing capacity for the BD Vacutainer Push Button Blood Collection Set, currently one of the growth-driving products for BD's Diagnostics unit in the US. In addition, in April 2006, BD announced a EUR 52 million expansion of its plant in Drogheda, Co Louth, Ireland, for the manufacture of a new prefilled syringe, BD Saline XS.

BD has manufacturing operations worldwide, including in the US, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Pakistan, Singapore, Spain, Sweden and the UK. The company has a strong global presence. Its international sales accounted for 51.5% of the company's total revenue in 2006, with Europe representing 30.2% of the total, while the US and Puerto Rico accounted for 48.5% of revenue.