Baxter International (Deerfield, Illinois) completed its acquisition of North American Vaccine (NAV; Columbia, Maryland). Total value of the purchase was $380 million, with NAV shareholders receiving $6.73 per share, comprising $6.70 in Baxter common stock and 3 cents in cash. For each share of NAV common stock, its shareholders will receive .1021 shares of Baxter.

BioShield Technologies (Atlanta, Georgia) said it will acquire AHT Corp. (Tarrytown, New York), a provider of e-commerce solutions for clinical laboratories, pharmacy benefit managers, pharmacies and physicians, and will integrate AHT's B2B laboratory and prescription transaction management operations with its eMD.com Internet health care subsidiary. BioShield's eMD.com unit provides an Internet service for health providers and patients designed to improve patients care. The deal will be a stock-for-stock merger, with BioShield exchanging $1.75 worth of its stock for each AHT share.

Cardiac Science (Irvine, California) has acquired Cadent Medical (Bedford, Massachusetts), a private company that has developed a cell phone-sized defibrillator to be worn by mobile cardiac patients. Cardiac Science issued 4.5 million shares of restricted common stock to Cadent shareholders for a total purchase price of $22.5 million. Cardiac Science said it will integrate its proprietary software into the new device to assure that a patient receives an immediate defibrillation when a life-threatening heart rhythm occurs. Cadent offers additional technology for use in Cardiac Science's existing and planned product line. Raymond Cohen, president and CEO of Cardiac Science, said the company had an 18-month timeline for reaching product commercialization. Cadent's intellectual property includes patent filings and proprietary mini-defibrillation electrodes effective for multiple-day monitoring and for reducing skin irritation.

Orthopedic products maker dj Orthopedics (San Diego, California) has purchased DePuy Orthopaedic Technology (Tracy, California), a division of Johnson & Johnson. The value of the deal was not disclosed. The acquisition will strengthen dj Orthopedics in the orthopedic recovery products industry in both national and international markets, according to Les Cross, president and CEO. Formed June 1999 as part of an investor group which bought a controlling interest from Smith & Nephew, dj Orthopedics is a market leader in ligament bracing, post-operative bracing and soft ankle support as well as osteoarthritis bracing, orthopedic soft goods and pain management. On a combined pro-forma basis, dj Orthopedics' revenues for 1999 were about $164 million.

Empi (St. Paul, Minnesota), an affiliate of The Carlyle Group (Washington), reported purchasing Ormed GmbH (Freiburg, Germany), formerly a division of G. Hug GmbH. Terms were not disclosed. Ormed is a leading European maker of orthopedic rehabilitation products with operations in India, the U.S. and Europe. Empi is a supplier of electrotherapy, iontophoretic drug delivery and orthotic products. Joseph Laptewicz, chairman and CEO of Empi, said that the combination "strengthens an already exciting platform in the orthopedic rehabilitation market." He predicted 2000 sales of more than $100 million for the merged firm. The Carlyle Group, which manages funds of more than $10 billion, acquired Empi last September.

Jomed (Helsingborg, Sweden) said it will acquire catheter manufacturer Medi-Dyne (Glens Falls, New York) for an undisclosed amount of cash. Jomed Chief Executive Tor Peters said earlier that the company had two acquisitions in the pipeline, one a smaller purchase and the other a larger U.S. firm.

Philips Medical Systems (Best, the Netherlands) has acquired CardioLogica, the Cardiology Information System (CIS) for Electronic Patient Folder (EPF) creation from Cardiovascular Computer Systems Milwaukee, Wisconsin). CardioLogica brings together cardiac images and clinical and administrative data by means of a centralized software solution. Philips said it will incorporate the system into its own Inturis for Cardiology system, which integrates image and information management for cardiovascular care.

TCPI Holdings, a subsidiary of Technical Chemicals and Products (TCPI; Pompano Beach, Florida), a maker of point-of-care medical diagnostic products, will acquire the worldwide over-the-counter pregnancy and ovulation self-testing business of Roche Diagnostics for $7 million in cash. The purchase "provides forward integration in moving us closer to the end users of our OTC testing products distributed under the EVATEST (pregnancy) and EVAPLAN (ovulation) and other similar trademarks," said Elliott Block, PhD, CEO of TCPI.

World Heart (Ontario, Canada) completed its purchase of the Novacor (Oakland, California) left ventricular assist business, of Edwards Lifesciences (Irvine, California). Edwards received preferred stock which, at its option, can be exchanged for about 5 million WorldHeart common shares (or 24.9% of World Heart's outstanding stock). Additionally, Edwards has invested $20 million in WorldHeart convertible preferred stock and will maintain worldwide distribution rights to the Novacor heart assist system, as well as the HeartSaver VAD system being developed by World Heart.