Baxter to acquire Seprafilm Adhesion Barrier from Sanofi for $350m

Baxter International, a US-based health care company, has signed a deal worth $350 million to acquire Seprafilm Adhesion Barrier and related assets from French pharma company Sanofi, in a move to expand its advanced surgery portfolio.

Seprafilm Adhesion Barrier is a medical device, which has FDA approval for preventing adhesion in patients going through abdominal or pelvic laparotomy. The mechanical bioresorbable adhesion barrier is applied to adhesiogenic tissues prior to surgical closure.

Seprafilm Adhesion Barrier is used as an adjunct to lower the incidence, severity, and extent of postoperative adhesions between the abdominal wall and the underlying viscera like omentum, bladder, small bowel, and stomach and also between the uterus and nearby structures like tubes and ovaries, large bowel, and bladder.

According to Baxter, adhesion prevention products, sealants, and hemostats are used by surgeons to control intraoperative bleeding and for reducing adhesions, which can occur in surgeries when scar tissue develops and sticks to nearby tissue.

Adhesions are a potential source of major after-surgical complications and usually need revision, or a second surgery for their removal, said Baxter.

Baxter to acquire Seprafilm Adhesion Barrier from Sanofi for $350m

Seprafilm Adhesion Barrier is marketed all over the world including the US, China, Japan, France, and South Korea. Baxter expects sales of the proposed acquired products to be nearly $100 million in the 12 months after the acquisition is closed.

The US health care company said that the deal is expected to be closed in Q1 2020, subject to the meeting of closing conditions.

Wil Boren – general manager of Baxter Advanced Surgery business said: “Seprafilm will be a strong complement to our leading hemostat and sealant portfolio, helping us continue to advance the art of healing with optimized patient care in the operating room.

“While Seprafilm is clinically recognized among surgeons globally, we plan to provide commercial support for the product through our dedicated surgery salesforce and pursue opportunities for expansion in certain countries.”

In September 2019, Baxter signed a deal worth up to $230 million to acquire Cheetah Medical, a provider of non-invasive hemodynamic monitoring technologies. (Read more about Baxter acquisition of Cheetah Medical here)