Medtronic seems to be looking to unload its medical supply business.

The company inherited most of the assets potentially on the block in its Covidien purchase, first announced in 2014. The business markets a wide variety of supplies including needles, catheters, monitoring equipment and medical instruments.

The cash-and-stock transaction was valued, when it closed in January 26, 2015, at approximately $49.9 billion, based on Medtronic's closing stock price of $75.59 per share on that day.

While still in its initial stages, the present plan could result in the sale of a unit worth upward of $5 billion, unnamed sources told Bloomberg News.

Medtronic has, so far, had no comment on possible deals, although sources have told the news agency that possible buyers have been alerted by the company.

No word yet as to whether plans call for a single big sale or multiple deals breaking up the supply business into smaller units.

According to the wire service, earnings for the business under consideration were about $500 million EBITA.

At the time of the Covidien acquisition Omar Ishrak, chairman and CEO of Medtronic, said that it brought together “the extensive and innovative capabilities of both Medtronic and Covidien with an underlying objective to solve health care's biggest challenge – expanding access and improving clinical outcomes, while lowering costs."

Even when the deal happened, it seemed that the “commodity” medical supply business was an unlikely fit with much of the higher-technology Medtronic business, such as pacemakers and neurostimulators.

Beyond that, these types of medical supplies were a relatively small part of Covidien's overall market share, accounting for only $1.6 billion of 2014 annual sales of $10.7 billion, according to the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal.

Many of these types of supply offerings were brought under Medtronic's patient monitoring and recovery unit. Overall, that unit had fiscal 2016 revenue of $4.3 billion.

Last month CMS announced it will provide reimbursement for leadless cardiac pacemakers, thus giving heart failure patients broader access to Medtronic's Micra Transcatheter Pacing System.

As it falls under Medicare's policy of Coverage with Evidence Development, additional evidence must be collected.

The company is seeking coverage for its existing Micra Post-Approval Study, and a new study that will track longitudinal data on Medicare patients who receive the Micra TPS. Coverage will become effective once the studies are approved by CMS.

The Micra TPS received its CE mark in April, 2015, and FDA approval in April, 2016. It's also the first and only leadless pacemaker approved for use with 1.5T and 3T full-body MR exams.

Plans call for the addition of remote monitoring capabilities in the coming year.

"We are working closely with CMS to ensure patient access to the Micra TPS as quickly as possible under this decision," stated Dr. John Liddicoat, senior vice president of Medtronic and president of the cardiac rhythm and heart failure division.

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