St. Jude Medical Acquires Angio-Seal

St. Jude Medical Inc. will acquire the Angio-Seal business of Tyco International Ltd. for $167 million in cash. The transaction is subject to government review under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act and is expected to be completed by the end of the first quarter. Angio-Seal will become part of the company's Daig specialty catheter business.

The Angio-Seal product is a hemostatic puncture closure device used to seal arterial punctures created during interventional cardiology procedures, such as diagnostic angiograms and balloon angioplasty. The product was developed by Kensey Nash Corp. and has been available in the U.S. since the end of 1996.

Vascular sealing devices are a relatively new and emerging growth opportunity within interventional cardiology. The worldwide market for these devices is estimated today at $120 million and represents about a 10% market penetration of the relevant interventional cardiology procedures. Angio-Seal is the market leader with approximately a 40% market share. St. Jude Medical's Daig division currently supplies some components for the Angio-Seal(TM) device.

Earlier this month, St. Jude said it planned to boost its 1999 research and development budget up to 12% of its overall company sales. The company expects to speed development of its own new medical devices to control irregular heartbeat and congestive heart failure.