C.R. Bard ($BCR) has agreed to pay $140 million up-front for Neomend, a California maker of products to seal air leaks in the lungs after surgery.
The deal is structured as a merger with Bard's Davol unit, and the company will pay up to $25 million in milestones to Neomend through 2016.
With the acquisition, Bard gets Neomend's Progel Air Leak Sealant, a CE marked, FDA-approved product used in the intraoperative sealing of air leaks following lung resection. Air leaks are among the more common complications after surgery, Bard says, and the sealant has proven effective in cutting down the rate of leakage and reducing the time patients spend in hospitals afterward.
Lung surgery is most common in patients with lung cancer, and about 220,000 such procedures are performed each year in the U.S. Beyond lung surgery, Bard sees an opportunity to use Neomend's technology for other procedures, and the company estimates the global market for surgical sealants and adhesion barrier products at about $1 billion.
Neomend is the market leader in thoracic sealing, Bard CEO Timothy Ring said in a statement, and the potential indications for Progel make it an excellent addition to Bard's offerings. "This merger represents a great strategic fit for us, as this technology platform is an important building block for our surgical specialty product offering and is synergistic with our call point and global reach," Ring said.
- read Bard's release