Cook sells drug division

Cook Group Inc., the Bloomington-based medical supplies titan, is getting back to basics -- minimally invasive medical devices such as stents and catheters.\nCompany officials announced Wednesday that Cook has sold its pharmaceutical branch to Baxter Healthcare Inc. for $219 million in cash and stocks. The Deerfield, Ill.,-based pharmaceutical giant reported $6.9 billion in sales last year. \n"Cook Group has always recognized the tremendous potential for growth in our contract pharmaceutical business," said Phyllis McCullough, executive vice president of operation for Cook Group Inc. "Our decision to sell that portion of our business to Baxter will ensure that the pharmaceutical business we started reaches its fullest potential."\nBaxter plans on adding the Cook business to its medical delivery systems unit, which reported $2.7 billion in international sales last year. Cook Pharmaceutical Solutions packages and labels prescription drugs in vials and pre-filled syringes.\nBaxter hopes to cement its position as a full-line provider in the intravenous and other drug-delivery markets, said David Drohan, a corporate vice president. The move was received favorably by Wall Street -- Baxter stock rose 40 cents Wednesday to a 52-week high of $52.67.\nAs part of the deal, Baxter will buy Cook's 11-acre manufacturing and office site on Curry Pike in Bloomington. The property includes a newly expanded 120,000 square-foot state-of-the-art pharmaceutical manufacturing facility. Cook officials said its headquarters will be moved to a corporate campus at a nearby industrial site.\nBaxter plans on retaining the 300 employees at the site. They were notified of the change in ownership Wednesday morning.\n"We talked about what to expect for the future," said Jerry Arthur, president of Cook Pharmaceutical Solutions. "There was a lot of very positive excitement."\nEventually, Baxter hopes to expand the facility and bring more jobs into Bloomington.\n"We already want to add additional employees and three new buildings, all at the Curry Pike campus," said Joel Ture, Baxter's General Manager and Vice President of Drug Delivery Systems. "And we hope to keep growing and keep building."\nCook expanded into the pharmaceutical business in 1982. Recently, the privately owned company has decided to refocus its efforts on its core medical device business. The deal is subject to anti-trust statutes, but company officials on both sides said they hope to have regulatory approval by September.