BD SHOULD SEE BENEFIT FROM ITS SAFETY DEVICES, ANALYST SAYS

Becton Dickinson (BD) remains a solid bet for investors, thanks in part to its next-generation safety device to guard against hospital-acquired infections, an analyst says.

BD's Nexiva is a closed IV catheter system that reduces exposure to blood and transmission of infections, "making it attractive to hospitals that may encounter high rates of infectious diseases," Lazard Capital Markets analyst Jeffrey Frelick said in a Jan. 17 research note.

"Given BD's leading market-share position in IV catheters, we look for BD to defend its share by converting [BD-Insyte] Autoguard customers to Nexiva," he said. "We look for safety device sales to increase 7 percent in the quarter and double-digits for fiscal year 2007."