Covidien Announces Definitive Agreement to Acquire Aspect Medical Systems

The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of calendar year 2009.

"The acquisition of Aspect will allow Covidien to broaden its product offerings and add a market leading brain monitoring technology to its portfolio,” said Pete Wehrly, president of respiratory & monitoring solutions at Covidien. "Aspect will bring us enhanced clinical expertise, a strong research and development organization and expand our presence in the operating room. The acquisition is consistent with our strategy of expanding into adjacent market segments and will help us achieve our mission of enhancing the quality of life for patients and improving outcomes for our customers.”

"Joining Covidien provides Aspect with the scale and resources to accelerate growth of BIS and other Aspect products, to continue to invest in outcomes research, comparative effectiveness and innovation, and to support the strategy of providing products that are designed to improve patient outcomes,” said Nassib Chamoun, President and CEO of Aspect Medical Systems. "Above all, we are pleased to become part of a company that shares our commitment to evidence-based medicine and the development of products that help clinicians cost-effectively deliver better care.”

Aspect's premier product, Bispectral Index (BIS) technology, is designed to allow medical professionals to reliably gauge the precise amount of anesthetic medication required by each patient, resulting in better overall patient care. BIS technology became the first clinically proven and commercially available direct measure of the effects of anesthetics and sedatives on the brain, leading the way to proprietary technologies that directly measure these effects, and ultimately improve the quality and cost effectiveness of patient care.

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