By Christy Santhosh (Reuters) -Medical device maker Boston Scientific said on Friday it will buy the remaining equity in privately held Nalu Medical for about $533 million in cash, expanding its portfolio of treatments for chronic pain. The deal gives Boston Scientific access to Nalu’s neurostimulation device, designed to deliver targeted relief to adults living […]
Health
Boston Scientific boosts chronic pain therapy portfolio with Nalu deal
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By Christy Santhosh
(Reuters) -Medical device maker Boston Scientific said on Friday it will buy the remaining equity in privately held Nalu Medical for about $533 million in cash, expanding its portfolio of treatments for chronic pain.
The deal gives Boston Scientific access to Nalu’s neurostimulation device, designed to deliver targeted relief to adults living with chronic pain, through an electrical pain relief therapy called peripheral nerve stimulation (PNS).
The medtech company has made a string of acquisitions this year, including an upfront payment of $443 million in January for the remaining stake in cardiovascular device maker Bolt Medical.
RBC Capital Markets analyst Shagun Singh said the Nalu deal aligns well with Boston’s neuromodulation portfolio and noted that it expects the company to remain focused on acquisitions, as M&A remains its top capital allocation priority.
Boston’s other pain modulation therapies include spinal cord stimulation systems and devices for radiofrequency ablation and basivertebral nerve ablation.
Nalu’s therapy uses mild electrical impulses to interrupt pain signals before they reach the brain and features a miniaturized, battery-free implantable pulse generator, powered wirelessly by a small, externally worn therapy disc and controlled via a smartphone app.
The device received the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s clearance for PNS in 2019, and for spinal cord stimulation (SCS), another pain management therapy, in 2020.
RBC’s Singh said experts have noted that Nalu’s system is more robust in PNS compared to other offerings in the market, and see a strong chance for share gains there, while being more muted on the SCS side, where Boston already has its offering.
Shares of Boston Scientific, which has been a strategic investor in California-based Nalu since 2017, rose about 1% in early trading.
Boston said the deal is expected to be immaterial to its adjusted profit in 2026, but slightly accretive in 2027, and increasingly beneficial thereafter.
(Reporting by Christy Santhosh in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid and Shinjini Ganguli)