CareFusion Makes Its First Steps Count

CareFusion Corp. – just six months removed from spinning out of Cardinal Health Inc. – grabbed headlines not twice but three times last month. [See Deal] First, the company went to war with Medtronic PLC, announcing its plans to launch a kyphoplasty product that will be cheaper than those offered by the current leader. CareFusion followed up the announcement by filing an anti-trust lawsuit against Medtronic, charging that company with using patent protection to create a monopoly in the vertebral compression market. CareFusion – and others in the spinal industry – maintain that Medtronic's patents on the action of kyphoplasty, acquired along with Kyphon Inc. in 2007, have expired, thereby ending the company's exclusive hold on that type of verterbral compression surgery, but CareFusion is the first to act. [See Deal] Finally, CareFusion ended the month with the announcement of its first significant purchase since its spin-out last August, alerting the device industry that a new strategic buyer is in the market. [See Deal]

The three individual events reflect the aggressive attitude CareFusion executives intend to carry now that they're free from Cardinal Health. Analysts say the company needs to increase its revenue growth...