BD (company)
Becton, Dickinson and Company, commonly known as BD, is an American medical technology company that manufactures and sells medical devices, instrument systems, and reagents. BD also provides consulting and analytics services in certain geographies. Founded in 1897 and headquartered in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey, BD employs nearly 70,000 people in more than 50 countries throughout the world. In the fiscal year ending September 30, 2019, more than 40% of BD sales were generated from non-U.S. markets.
The company's customers include health care institutions, science researchers, clinical laboratories, the pharmaceutical industry, and the general public. BD was one of the first companies to sell U.S.-made glass syringes. It was also a pioneer in the production of hypodermic needles. Today, BD is divided into three segments: BD Medical, BD Life Sciences and BD Interventional. BD is ranked #195 in the 2019 Fortune 500 list.
The firm in October 2014 agreed to acquire CareFusion for a price of $12.2 billion in cash and stock. In April 2017 Becton Dickinson agreed to acquire C. R. Bard for $24 billion.
Historical development
1897–1947
BD was founded in 1897 by Maxwell W. Becton and Fairleigh S. Dickinson, two American businessmen who met on a sales trip. The same year the company made its first sale, a Luer-all-glass syringe that sold for $2.50. In 1898, BD acquired its first patent for a medical product. In 1899 the company introduced its first logo which was meant to symbolize guaranteed superior quality of the products provided by BD. In 1904, BD acquired the Philadelphia Surgical Company. This very first acquisition and other early acquisitions significantly expanded the company's manufacturing ability and product offering. Two years later, BD incorporated in the state of New Jersey and built a manufacturing facility in East Rutherford, the first in the U.S. created specifically for the production of thermometers, hypodermic needles, and syringes. In 1924, BD manufactured its first syringe designed specifically for insulin injection. One year later, BD introduced the BD Yale Luer-Lok Syringe, designed and patented by Fairleigh S. Dickinson, Sr. It provided a simple and secure method of attaching and removing the needle to and from the syringe. Today, Luer taper connectors are the standard for syringes in the U.S. In 1947 Joseph Kleiner developed the Evacutainer—a device used to draw blood by vacuum through a needle into a test tube. This product eventually evolved to become the BD Vacutainer Blood Collection system.1948–1970
In 1948, BD faced new leadership as Fairleigh S. Dickinson, Jr. and Henry P. Becton, sons of the founders, took over the company. Their 24-year tenure was a time of rapid development for BD. The company grew within the U.S. as well as internationally. In 1949, it opened its first manufacturing site outside of New Jersey in Columbus, Nebraska. In 1961, it established a manufacturing facility in Canaan, Connecticut. BD also soon expanded to Canada, Mexico, France, and Brazil. The tenure of Fairleigh S. Dickinson, Jr. and Henry P. Becton was also a time of significant product innovation. In 1950, BD's first sterile disposable product, a blood collection set, was developed and sold to the American Red Cross. In 1954, BD introduced the first completely disposable syringe made of glass: BD Hypak. This innovative product was used in a large-scale field test of the polio vaccine developed by Dr. Jonas Salk. One year later, BD entered the microbiology field through the acquisition of the Baltimore Biological Laboratory. In 1961, the company introduced its disposable BD Plastipak syringe. Under the new leadership the company also went public and appeared for the first time in the Fortune 500 list.1973–1995
In 1973, BD added another U.S. facility — a research center in Durham, North Carolina in Research Triangle Park. The center was established to help the company meet United States Environmental Protection Agency requirements, research improved manufacturing and process methods, and develop future innovative technologies. In 1975, BD Pharmaceutical Systems Europe acquired an important patent for a prefilled syringe injecting heparin. In 1980, BD developed its first automated system for mycobacteria testing—the BD BACTEC 460TB System. The next year brought significant signs of the company's development as sales surpassed the $1 billion milestone and a new plant in Plymouth, England was constructed to serve the European markets. Five years later BD moved its corporate headquarters to Franklin Lakes, New Jersey Also in 1986, BD acquired Fabersanitas Industrial, a major Spanish syringe manufacturer as well as Deseret Medical, a vascular access devices manufacturer. The last three years of the 1980s also showed growth in Asia Furthermore, BD became the first company to introduce a safety-engineered syringe, the BD Safety-Lok, and acquired the Beaver Blade Company, a manufacturer of high-quality surgical blades. The first half of the next decade was very important to BD's development. The company opened a central distribution center in Temse, Belgium and entered India and China. BD also introduced a device that offered needle stick protection following blood-drawing procedures, the BD Vacutainer Safety-Lok Blood Collection Set.1999–2006
In 1999 BD announced its new corporate identity. Numerous independent brand names were replaced by a single name: BD. In addition, the company symbol that is used today was introduced. BD also named Edward J. Ludwig as the company's president. Ludwig was also named Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors. On February 9, 1999, BD announced the acquisition of Biometric Imaging, Inc., a privately held company serving the transfusion medicine, infectious diseases, and oncology markets. On December 20, 2000, BD signed an agreement to acquire Gentest Corporation, a privately held company serving the life sciences market in the areas of drug metabolism and toxicology testing of pharmaceutical candidates. During that time, BD also got heavily involved in global health issues announcing a five-year maternal and neonatal tetanus worldwide elimination partnership with UNICEF, launching the BD Safety Compliance Initiative, and pledging $1 million contribution to the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative In 2003 and 2004, BD introduced several innovative products: BD FACSAria Cell Sorter—the first entirely new instrument in the next-generation portfolio of flow cytometers, BD Accuspray—a nasal drug delivery system for administering vaccines, BD.id—a patient identification system designed to limit the potential for medical errors in specimen collection, and the world's first "intelligent" insulin pump and glucose monitoring system, a wireless system consisting of a Medtronic MiniMed Paradigm 512 Insulin Pump and Paradigm Link Blood Glucose Monitor, co-developed with BD. In the beginning of the 21st century BD also invested in growing its business by acquiring several strategically important companies. In 2001, it acquired the Gentest Corporation, a leading in drug metabolism and toxicology testing company. In 2004, BD completed the acquisition of Atto Bioscience Acquired, a company specializing in optical instrumentation, software, and reagents for real-time analysis of interactions taking place in living cells. In 2005 BD entered the field of proteomics through its acquisition of FFE Weber GmbH, which specialized in the separation and fractionation of complex proteins. 2006 was also an important year to document BD's growth as the company acquired GeneOhm Sciences—a leader in the development of molecular diagnostic testing for the rapid detection of bacterial organisms and TriPath Imaging, a cancer diagnostics company.Finances
For the fiscal year 2017, Becton Dickinson reported earnings of US$1.030 billion, with an annual revenue of US$12.093 billion, an increase of 10.5% over the previous fiscal cycle. Becton Dickinson's shares traded at over $192 per share, and its market capitalization was valued at over US$63 billion in November 2018.Year | Revenue in mil. USD$ | Net income in mil. USD$ | Total Assets in mil. USD$ | Price per Share in USD$ | Employees |
2005 | 5,341 | 722 | 6,133 | 44.554 | |
2006 | 5,738 | 752 | 6,825 | 52.89 | |
2007 | 6,283 | 890 | 7,329 | 63.810 | |
2008 | 6,898 | 1,127 | 7,913 | 67.23 | |
2009 | 6,987 | 1,232 | 9,305 | 58.34 | |
2010 | 7,124 | 1,318 | 9,651 | 64.62 | |
2011 | 7,584 | 1,271 | 10,430 | 70.38 | |
2012 | 7,708 | 1,170 | 11,361 | 68.57 | |
2013 | 8,054 | 1,293 | 12,149 | 90.12 | 29,979 |
2014 | 8,446 | 1,185 | 12,447 | 111.84 | 30,619 |
2015 | 10,282 | 695 | 26,478 | 137.28 | 49,517 |
2016 | 12,483 | 976 | 25,586 | 158.98 | 50,928 |
2017 | 12,093 | 1,030 | 37,734 | 192.11 | 41,933 |
Business segments
Becton Dickinson was formally divided into two business segments, namely BD Medical and BD Life SciencesCurrently there are three business segments.
BD Medical
The BD Medical segment consists of four divisions or units, namely Diabetes Care, Medication Delivery Solutions, Medication Management Solutions, and Pharmaceutical Systems. The products of this segment include: needles and syringes, intravenous catheters, safety-engineered and auto-disable devices, prefillable drug delivery systems, prefilled IV flush syringes, insulin syringes and pen needles, regional anesthesia needles, and anesthesia trays. This segment primarily sells to: hospitals and clinics, physicians' office practices, consumers and retail pharmacies, governmental and nonprofit public health agencies, pharmaceutical companies, and health care workers..In certain places, BD Medical also offers consulting and analytics related services. BD Medical's Consulting services are primarily targeted at hospitals, healthcare systems and networks of healthcare providers.
BD Life Sciences
Business units include Diabetes Care, Medication Delivery Solutions, Medication Management Solutions, and Pharmaceutical Systems.Offerings include preanalytical solutions for sample management; immunology research, including flow cytometry and multiomics tools; microbiology and molecular diagnostics; lab automation and informatics; and differentiated reagents and assays.
BD Interventional
Business units include Peripheral Intervention, Surgery, Urology and Critical CareBD Biosciences designs, manufactures, and sells fluorescence-activated cell sorters and analyzers, monoclonal antibodies, and kits for cell analysis, reagent systems for life science research, cell imaging systems, laboratory products for tissue culture and fluid handling, and cell culture media supplements for biopharmaceutical manufacturing. BD Biosciences serves the following customers: research and clinical laboratories, academic and government institutions, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, hospitals, and blood banks. The company's line of plastic conical screwtop test tubes, known as 'Falcon tubes', is popular and the term is sometimes used as a generic term for such tubes.