News In Brief

Becton Dickinson & Co. will sell most of its Discovery Labware unit to Corning Inc. for $730 million under a definitive agreement announced April 10. The divestiture includes four of the BD Biosciences - Discovery Labware unit’s product platforms, including plastic consumables like flasks and Petri dishes; liquid-handling products; cell-based assays for research and drug-discovery efforts; and adsorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion research products typically used for production of vaccines and biopharmaceuticals. The divested business has annual sales of about $235 million; however, revenue has been flat to declining in recent years, analysts note. The deal excludes Discovery Labware’s advanced bioprocessing platform, which produces cell culture media and supplements used in the production of vaccines and biopharmaceuticals. BD Biosciences “is tightening its focus on new instruments that promote advanced cell analysis (higher growth) versus the more traditional, more mature labware market,” J.P. Morgan analyst Michael Weinstein said in an April 10 report. BD, which also makes devices and diagnostics, had total revenue of $7.8 billion in fiscal 2011 (ended Sept. 30).

Proceeds from the sale “will most likely be used to fund either share repurchases or asset purchases in the diagnostics segment,” Citigroup analyst Amit Bhalla suggested in an April 10...