News Release

BAXTER, NUTRICIA AND ANDREAS RUDOLPH FORM A JOINT VENTURE TO SERVE THE GROWING HOMECARE MARKET IN GERMANY

ZURICH, SWITZERLAND, FRIEDRICHSDORF, GERMANY and AHRENSBURG, GERMANY, December 12, 2001 -- Baxter Deutschland GmbH, Nutricia Deutschland GmbH and Andreas Rudolph, founder of the German homecare business HSC, have entered into a three-way joint venture to form a German homecare business called 2.HSC Home Supply + Care Beteiligungs GmbH. The new company will focus initially on supplying enteral and parenteral nutrition products to homecare patients and caregivers in Germany.

2.HSC will secure an immediate base of business by purchasing the enteral nutrition product sales estimated at DM 75 million for 2001 from the original HSC company and will immediately introduce Baxter's total parenteral nutrition products, including Clinomel and Oliclinomel, "6060" pumps and nutrition compounding systems to the company's product portfolio. While the new company will leverage the HSC brand, its product portfolio is intended to be brand neutral.

Baxter and Nutricia will each have equal shares in 2.HSC. Mr. Rudolph will maintain a minority share and run the day-to-day operations of the new joint venture as general manager.

Trends are emerging in the German health-care environment where patient care is migrating from the hospital to less acute sites of care. Reimbursement practices are already reflecting this shift. While the core hospital market in Germany is projected to grow in the low single digits over the next several years, the growth potential within the homecare segment in Germany is expanding with growth projected to reach double digits in many product/therapy categories.

Although Baxter and Nutricia already sell products for patients at home, this joint venture allows Baxter and Nutricia to quickly expand both companies' access to homecare patients by utilizing Andreas Rudolph's established infrastructure and sales channel in this growing homecare market.

Baxter Deutschland GmbH is the German operating subsidiary of Baxter International Inc. Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) is a global leader in providing critical therapies for people with life-threatening conditions, focusing on blood therapies, medication delivery, and renal therapy. Baxter offers products and services that are used by health-care providers and their patients in 112 countries. Baxter generated 2000 sales of $6.9 billion. Baxter's Medication Delivery business, with sales of $2.7 billion in 2000, offers a single source for medication delivery products and services, including drug delivery systems, intravenous solutions, administration sets, infusion pumps, parenteral nutrition products, anesthesia devices and pharmaceutical agents.

Nutricia Deutschland GmbH is a German subsidiary of Royal Numico N.V., a leader in specialized nutrition including infant nutrition, clinical nutrition and nutritional supplements, under well-known brand names like Nutricia, Milupa, Cow&Gate:GNC and Rexall Sundown. Royal Numico NV operates in over 100 countries and employs more than 28,500 people. Annual sales in 2000 totaled $4.3 billion.

Clinoleic, Oliclinomel and 6060 pumps are trademarks of Baxter International Inc.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

	Media Contacts: Frank Butschbacher, Baxter, +49 172 6200 822 Dr. Rainer Siewert, Nutricia, +49 6172 99 1342 Petra Harms, Andreas Rudolph, +49 4102 516724