Boston Scientific has signed a definitive agreement to acquire spine solutions maker Vertiflex for a total consideration of $465m.
The deal also includes additional payments depending on commercial milestones for the coming three years.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
Vertiflex portfolio consists of the minimally invasive Superion Indirect Decompression System intended to improve physical function and minimise pain in lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) patients.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the Superion System in 2015 to treat patients with moderate degenerative LSS.
LSS is characterised by the narrowing of the spinal canal, which could compress surrounding nerves. This causes low back and leg pain, disability, functional impairment and also impacts the quality of life.
Superion generates space between the vertebrae’s spinous processes, decreasing pressure on the nerves to improve patient mobility and relieve pain, numbness and cramping in the legs.
US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?
Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.
By GlobalDataThe treatment is designed to help patients who did not experience an adequate response to first-line therapies, including oral pain drugs, but do not have symptoms severe enough to require spinal fusion or laminectomy.
Boston Scientific expects the acquisition to expand its interventional pain therapies portfolio.
Boston Scientific Neuromodulation president Maulik Nanavaty said: “The addition of this differentiated technology, along with our leading spinal cord stimulation and radiofrequency ablation technologies, will provide physicians with the widest variety of solutions available to manage the growing number of patients suffering from chronic pain.”
The companies noted that Superion System’s safety and effectiveness were validated in a pivotal two-year randomised clinical trial involving 400 patients, who were followed for four years.
A final follow-up of more than 80 subjects showed that 84% of patients treated with the device had clinical success on at least two of three questionnaire measures comprising symptom severity, physical function and patient satisfaction.
Recent findings revealed an 85% reduction in the proportion of patients using opioids five years after treatment with the system.
Vertiflex president and CEO Earl Fender said: “We are proud of the clinical and commercial successes we’ve been able to achieve and look forward to continued adoption of the therapy with the global resources and clinical expertise of the Boston Scientific pain management franchise.”
The transaction, subject to customary closing conditions, is expected to be completed by the second quarter of this year.
