Baxter International Inc. (NYSE: BAX) is an American health care company with headquarters in Deerfield, Illinois. The company primarily focuses on products to treat hemophilia, kidney disease, immune disorders and other chronic and acute medical conditions. The company had 2009 sales of $12.6 billion, across three manufacturing divisions: BioScience (producing recombinant and blood plasma proteins to treat hemophilia and other bleeding disorders; plasma-based therapies to treat immune deficiencies and other chronic and acute blood-related conditions; products for regenerative medicine; and vaccines); Medication Delivery (producing intravenous solutions and other products used in the delivery of fluids and drugs to patients, as well as inhalation anesthetics and contract manufacturing services); and Renal (providing products to treat end-stage renal disease, or irreversible kidney failure, including solutions and other products for peritoneal dialysis and hemodialysis).

The company was involved in several controversies. In 2001, malfunctioning dialysis machines resulted in several deaths; in 2008 the company supplied contaminated heparin; in 2009 lethal H5N1 avian flu virus was delivered to laboratories across Europe mixed with seasonal influenza vaccines; also, the company was charged with excessive billing of Kentucky Medicaid.