A Medical Device Daily

Texas Pacific Group (TPG; San Francisco/London) and Maverick Capital reported that the transfusion therapies business that they are acquiring from Baxter International (Deerfield, Illinois) will be named Fenwal when the transaction closes later this quarter. Fenwal was the original name of the business when it was established in 1949.

The deal to sell the business to TPG and Maverick for $540 million was unveiled late last year (Medical Device Daily, Oct. 4, 2006).

The purchase included a global product portfolio of manual and automated blood-collection products and storage equipment, as well as five manufacturing facilities located in Haina, Dominican Republic; La Chatre, France; Maricao and San German, Puerto Rico; and Nabeul, Tunisia.

Fenwal, TPG said, will be one of the world’s largest suppliers of products and services to the blood banking industry. For nearly 60 years the business has developed technologies for “transfusion medicine” that support blood collection and blood make therapy a reality.

Ron Labrum, incoming CEO, said, “The Fenwal brand is recognized around the world as being synonymous with innovation in transfusion medicine. The name signals a renewed vigor to bring about new and better technologies, backed by the service and support expected from an industry leader.”

In 1949, a medical student named Carl Walter, with a $2,000 investment from entrepreneur T. Legare Fenn, founded Fenwal Laboratories. Walter had developed the first flexible, disposable blood-collection container. In addition to eliminating complications associated with blood collected in glass bottles — such as air embolism, contamination and breakage — Fenwal’s Blood-Pack system enabled the separation of whole blood into its components through a series of connected disposable containers, creating a shift from whole-blood transfusion to blood component therapy, and enabling the administration of only that component of blood needed.

Current development is focused on technologies that automate the process of cell separation and other processes.