Boston Scientific has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Vertiflex, a privately-held company which has developed and commercialized the Superion Indirect Decompression System, for $465m.
Image: Boston Scientific has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Vertiflex. Photo: Courtesy of kai kalhh from Pixabay.
Boston said that Superion is a minimally-invasive device used in patients with lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) to improve physical function and reduce pain.
The procedure, is expected to reach $60m in sales in 2019, is primarily performed by physicians who treat chronic pain patients with therapies including spinal cord stimulation and radiofrequency ablation.
For the transaction, the Boston will pay $465m in upfront cash and additional payments contingent on commercial milestones for the next three years.
The company said that in the US, six million people suffer from LSS, the narrowing of the spinal canal, which can lead to compression of nearby nerves causing a heavy low back and leg pain, disability, and functional impairment.
In 2015, the Superion System was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for patients with moderate degenerative LSS. The system creates space between the spinous processes of the vertebrae to reduce the pressure on the nerves and can thereby improve patient mobility and relieve pain, numbness and cramping in the legs.
The procedure is claimed to be a treatment option for patients who have not responded positively to first-line therapies, but do not have severe enough symptoms to require spinal fusion or laminectomy.
Boston Scientific neuromodulation president Maulik Nanavaty “The acquisition of Vertiflex and the Superion System will further our category leadership strategy by expanding the breadth of our pain management product offerings.
“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 transaction is anticipated to be closed in the late second quarter of 2019, subject to customary closing conditions.
Founded in 2015, the Carlsbad, California-based Vertiflex currently employs nearly 100 people.
Vertiflex president and CEO Earl Fender said: “Five-year clinical data and real-world experience with the Superion System demonstrate that this minimally invasive and reversable procedure – done without destabilizing the spine – can offer patients safe, long-term pain relief with a relatively rapid recovery time.
“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.”