Quick Facts

MDS is a global life sciences company that provides market-leading products and services used for the diagnosis and treatment of disease. The Company generated US$231 million in annual net revenue for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2009.

MDS is a publicly traded company on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: MDS) and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: MDZ). 

MDS has more than 650 employees located in four countries and it distributes products and services in more than 50 countries.

In February 2010, MDS completed one of the biggest divestitures in its history with the sale of its MDS Analytical Technologies business, a leading global supplier of drug discovery and life sciences research tools, to Danaher Corporation for $650 million in cash. The Company currently intends to return approximately $400 million to $450 million of the sale proceeds to its shareholders through the share buyback, which is currently ongoing. In 2007, MDS completed the largest divestiture (MDS Diagnostic Services) and the largest acquisition (Molecular Devices Corporation) in the Company's history, and returned value to shareholders through a $500 million share buyback.

The global life sciences markets in which MDS competes are among the most attractive in the world.

MDS Nordion is a leading global provider of thechnologies for use in medical imaging and radiotherapeutics, and sterilization. It supplies more than half of the world's medical isotopes to precisely diagnose, monitor and treat disease. Sterilization products and systems from MDS Nordion are used to sterilize more than 40% of the world's single-use medical supplies, such as bandages, catheters and syringes, and to sterilize about 80% of all surgical gloves in the world. MDS Nordion also partners with several worldwide leading academic centres on collaborative research and development, including the University of Ottawa Heart Institute, where MDS Nordion established a Molecular Imaging Centre of Excellence to advance cardiology research.