Dow Corning Wants to Shed Its Medical Devices Unit : Health: The decision comes three months after it pulled out of the breast-implant business.

Three months after pulling out of the silicone breast-implant business, Dow Corning Corp. said Monday that it wants to unload the rest of its medical devices arm.

Breast-implant technology, however, will be excluded from any sale, said Scott Seeburger, a spokesman for the $1.8-billion company.

“We feel the breast implant product is a separate issue,” Seeburger said. “We made a commitment to women to do more research, and we’re going to follow through on that commitment.”

Seeburger conceded that controversy over the implants figured in the decision to stop making other medical devices, such as finger and toe joints. Dow Corning, however, will continue to manufacture medical supplies such as surgical tubing and needle coatings.

“We’ve reviewed our strategic direction, and we don’t see a real good long-term fit,” Seeburger said of medical devices. “Our strength is in materials technology rather than device technology.”

The medical devices division could be sold by year’s end, he said. That includes part of the Dow Corning medical products plant in Hemlock, Mich., and Dow Corning Wright, a subsidiary in Arlington, Tenn.

Dow Corning declined to disclose a sales price, although the company said the unit is expected to post annual sales of $100 million this year.

“The businesses have been growing; they have been profitable,” Seeburger said. “It will be a good opportunity for the right kind of company.”

The company said it expects to transfer about 525 employees working at its Arlington facility to a new owner. It said it hopes to “reassign” affected employees at its Hemlock facility to other Dow Corning operations.

The company has retained Alex. Brown & Sons Inc. to assist it in evaluating its financial alternatives for the business. The sale is anticipated by year-end.

Dow Corning ended 30 years of manufacturing breast implants in March, after years of charges by critics that the devices were unsafe. It insists that the implants are safe.

The Food and Drug Administration in January asked all gel implant makers to take them off the market.

Dow Corning is jointly owned by Corning Inc. and Dow Chemical Co.