B. Braun's Bet on Balloons

Until now, B. Braun, one of the oldest players in cardiovascular devices, has been comfortable in its niche. B. Braun's cardiovascular business is actually made up of two units, one that makes products for interventional radiologists and surgeons in the peripheral field, the other on a range of devices used in interventional cardiology. But the investment the company is making in a new technology, drug-eluting balloons, could be disruptive, if not to interventional cardiology, at least to the cardiovascular device companies and none more so than B. Braun itself.