Baxter Buys Ceremed's Ostene
BY LAUREN UZDIENSKI, AUGUST 23, 2011
Ceremed announced today that their Ostene hemostat, including all branding and manufacturing rights, has been sold to Baxter for an undisclosed amount. The divestiture will "free up assets needed to focus on bringing new products to market."
Ceremed currently manufactures the AOC PolymerBlend, which the company describes as a non-inflammatory synthetic carrier. The company is developing new applications for this technology, including methods of drug and protein delivery. Ceremed is also working on resorbable porous membranes, their Biopor non-absorbable synthetic implant material, dural repair systems and adhesion barriers, among other things.
For Baxter, this acquisition represents another effort to steadily build up their orthobiologics line. In 2010, they acquired Apatech for $240 million in cash with potential for an additional $90 million in earnouts. Apatech and Ceremed have another link: in 2008, the companies collaborated to produce the Actifuse Shape bone graft, which featured Apatech's Actifuse calcium phosphate agent with Ceremed's AOC PolymerBlend carrier.
