Baxter International Inc., which sells one of the world's leading clotting drugs for the most common form of hemophilia, said Monday it has signed a deal with a California-based biotech company to begin early research into a treatment for a  rarer form of the blood disorder.

The Deerfield-based medical products giant said it has begun preclinical work in hopes of developing a   genetically engineered therapy for bleeding in patients with hemophilia B, which is caused by a genetic   mutation of the Factor IX gene.