Eden Prairie-based medical-device maker Hemosphere, Inc., has been sold to Atlanta-based medical-device company CryoLife, Inc., for $17 million.

CryoLife on Wednesday announced the completion of the deal, although Hemosphere could receive up to $4.5 million more if it meets specific revenue goals.

Hemosphere's signature product is the Hemodialysis Reliable Outflow (HeRO) Graft-which aims to reduce the risk of infection in hemodialysis patients. It has been implanted in more than 5,000 patients to date.

Hemosphere now consists of an eight-person sales team outside of Minnesota and 20 Twin Cities-area employees responsible for manufacturing operations. CryoLife said that it plans to retain the sales positions and expand the geographic area that they cover, which currently doesn't extend west of the Mississippi River.

Meanwhile, CryoLife will keep Hemosphere's manufacturing in Eden Prairie through the end of the year, at which time it will move that function and the 20 related jobs to Atlanta. It's unclear whether the Twin Cities workers will have the option to move with their jobs, and representatives of the two companies couldn't be reached mid-day Thursday. CryoLife did say that it intends to hire an additional four to six manufacturing workers after that function moves south.

CryoLife's 2011 revenue totaled $119.6 million, and sales this year are projected to reach between $126 million and 129 million. CryoLife predicts that the Hemosphere product line will generate between $2.5 million and 3.5 million in 2012. Hemosphere's revenue totaled $5.3 million in 2011.

CryoLife said that the acquisition gives it an entry point into a $250 million market and that the HeRO Graft compliments its own products. CryoLife plans to use its clinical, regulatory, and research and development teams to expand distribution of the device.

“The talented team at Hemosphere has developed a unique technology for end-stage renal disease hemodialysis patients that are otherwise faced with sub-optimal treatment alternatives,” CryoLife President and CEO Steven G. Anderson said in a statement. “We believe that this acquisition is well in line with our cardiovascular focus.”