BD (company)

41°00′57″N 74°12′36″W / 41.015834°N 74.210136°W / 41.015834; -74.210136

Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD; also Becton Dickinson or Becton) is an American multinational medical technology company that manufactures and sells medical devices, instrument systems, and reagents. BD also provides consulting and analytics services in certain areas.

BD is ranked #211 in the 2024 Fortune 500 list based on its revenues for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2023.

The company was founded in 1897 in New York City by Maxwell Becton and Fairleigh S. Dickinson. It later moved its headquarters to New Jersey.

In 2004, BD agreed to pay out US$100 million to settle allegations from competitor Retractable Technologies that it had engaged in anti-competitive behavior to prevent the distribution of Retractable's syringes, which are designed to prevent needlestick injury. The lawsuit touched off a series of legal conflicts between the companies. Retractable would accuse BD of patent infringement after BD released a retractable needle of its own. Later Retractable would claim BD was falsely advertising its own brand of retractable needle as the “world’s sharpest needle”.

In October 2014, the company agreed to acquire CareFusion for a price of US$12.2 billion in cash and stock.

In April 2017, Becton, Dickinson and Company announced it would acquire C. R. Bard. The transaction was completed later that year, and the company became a wholly-owned subsidiary of BD, rebranded as Bard.

In 2024, BD announced it would acquire Edwards Lifesciences' critical care unit for $4.2 billion.