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BD seals the deal to acquire UK-based surgical sealant maker Tissuemed

After chalking up half a dozen tuck-in acquisitions throughout its fiscal year 2021—which ended Sept. 30—BD seems poised to outdo itself in 2022.

It’s already off to a strong start: BD’s first two buyouts of this fiscal year came in rapid succession over the course of just the past week. Hot on the tail of its decision to snap up catheter therapy developer Venclose, BD said Thursday that it has acquired surgical technology maker Tissuemed.

Based in Leeds, England, Tissuemed produces flexible, self-adhesive surgical sealant films. Its flagship product is TissuePatch, which bonds to internal tissue to prevent surgical incisions from leaking and control internal bleeding.

TissuePatch is designed to be used alongside sutures and surgical staples to minimize postop leakages of all kinds. For example, it can help seal off the protective tissue surrounding the brain and spine to lock in the cerebrospinal fluid or prevent any air from escaping from the lung tissue after thoracic surgeries.

With its latest, U.K.-based acquisition, BD is angling to broaden its surgical offerings beyond the U.S. Not only will it capitalize on the existing global popularity of TissuePatch, the medtech giant is also planning to infuse its own clinical and commercial know-how into Tissuemed’s tech development to roll out entirely new surgical sealant technologies.

“This advanced sealant serves as a strategic complement to the BD products used in the operating room today—providing us with the opportunity to equip surgeons with a more robust, highly integrated portfolio of surgical solutions,” Kevin Kelly, president of BD’s surgery business, said in a statement.

“Integrating TissuePatch into our business aligns with our commitment to continuously innovate in our core portfolio to help support minimally invasive surgeries,” Kelly added.

Terms of the acquisition weren’t disclosed, but BD said it expects the purchase to have no significant effect on its 2022 financial results.

In its fiscal year that ended in March 2020—the most recent financial report available—Tissuemed reported an annual net profit of just over 1 million pounds, or about $1.4 million. That’s a not-too-shabby increase of nearly 25% over the previous year’s take, which clocked in at about 851,000 pounds, or $1.1 million.

BD’s Tissuemed buy comes only a few days after the announcement of its Venclose acquisition. Financial details of that deal, too, were kept under wraps, but BD outlined its plans to intertwine Venclose’s line of catheters with its existing venous disease technology portfolio.

Venclose’s catheters deliver radiofrequency ablation to treat chronic venous insufficiency, a common condition that’s caused by malfunctioning valves in the leg veins and can cause varicose veins, swelling and changes in skin coloring around the affected veins.