St. Jude Medical Plans to Acquire Spinal Modulation

St. Jude Medical plans to acquire Spinal Modulation to become the only devicemaker to include radiofrequency ablation, spinal cord stimulation and dorsal root ganglion stimulation therapies in its chronic pain treatment portfolio, the company said Monday.

The buyout will give St. Jude access to the CE Mark-approved Axium neurostimulator system, for relief from dorsal root ganglion pain. Spinal Modulations has submitted a PMA application to the FDA and will reveal the system’s clinical trial results in June.

A deal was made possible by St. Jude’s $40 million equity investment in Spinal Modulation, which granted the devicemaker an exclusive option to distribute the Axium system worldwide as well as a buyout if it so desired.

Upon the closing of the deal, St. Jude will pay $175 million, with additional payments due upon FDA approval of the Axium system and other sales-based milestones. St. Jude expects to finalize the acquisition in the second quarter of 2015.

An estimated 1.5 billion people suffer from chronic pain, which is more than cancer, heart disease and diabetes combined. — Jason Scott