Boston Scientific Announces Acquisition of Cosman Medical

Boston Scientific announced that it has acquired Cosman Medical, Inc., a privately held Burlington, Mass. manufacturer of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) systems. The Cosman Medical team and products will become part of the Boston Scientific Neuromodulation business, which offers a range of Spinal Cord Stimulator (SCS) systems to treat patients with chronic pain, and Deep Brain Stimulation systems for the treatment of Parkinson's disease, dystonia and essential tremor.

"This acquisition is a natural extension of our current product portfolio and will help us provide physicians and patients more options to address chronic pain with non-opioid therapeutic treatments," said Maulik Nanavaty, senior vice president and president, Neuromodulation, Boston Scientific. "The addition of the Cosman Medical product line, which is built on industry-leading technology and known for its high-quality, expands our capability to provide innovative solutions for the treatment of chronic pain."

One in three Americans suffer from chronic pain and more than 100 million people are partially or totally disabled by pain. In the United States, it is the number one cause of disability in adults.1,2 RFA is a versatile outpatient procedure with a more than 50-year track record of providing relief for patients with chronic pain. It works by applying heat to small areas of nerve tissue to interrupt pain signals. SCS works by sending electrical signals to the spinal cord, masking pain signals from reaching the brain. In the continuum of care for pain, RFA is typically used prior to SCS. While many patients with chronic pain find effective relief from RFA, others progress to SCS to manage pain.

"We are pleased to join the Boston Scientific team and help expand access to leading treatments for chronic pain," said Eric Cosman, Jr, PhD, scientific director, Cosman Medical. "This acquisition comes at a time when our society is recognizing the impact of relying extensively on opioids to treat pain and is looking for additional approaches. Our mutual commitment to innovation and quality will help us deliver solutions."

The expansion into RFA follows the recent Boston Scientific launch of the Precision Montage™ MRI Spinal Cord Stimulator (SCS) System which offers customized relief to patients with chronic pain while also enabling safe access to full body magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in a 1.5 Tesla environment when conditions of use are met. MultiWave™ Technology enables delivery of multiple waveforms, including burst and higher rates, intended to help respond to changes in pain over time. The launch expanded the suite of Boston Scientific products that leverage the Illumina 3D™ algorithm, a three-dimensional, anatomy-driven computer model designed for simple point-and-click pain targeting to support physicians in treating chronic pain. In addition to the new Precision Montage MRI SCS System, the portfolio includes the Precision Spectra™ System, which is designed to provide broad coverage for pain with 32 contacts, and the Precision Novi™ System, the smallest high-capacity non-rechargeable device.

Boston Scientific currently expects the net impact of this transaction on adjusted earnings per share to be break-even in 2016 and accretive thereafter and more dilutive on a GAAP basis as a result of acquisition-related net charges and amortization. Specific terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

A press release can be found from Boston Scientific website.

St. Jude Launches First Commercial DRG Stimulation Therapy Implant in USA

St. Jude announced the U.S. launch and first post-approval implants of the St. Jude Medical Axium™ Neurostimulator System for dorsal root ganglion (DRG) stimulation to treat patients with chronic pain that has been hard to control with traditional spinal cord stimulation (SCS). First commercial implants of the device occurred at the Center for Pain Relief in Charleston, W.Va. by Dr. Timothy Deer, and at the Sutter Santa Rosa Surgery and Endoscopy Center in Santa Rosa, Calif., by Dr. Jason Pope.

In the coming weeks, DRG implants will occur in half the states in the United States. St. Jude Medical has already partnered with implanting chronic pain specialists who will conduct more than 100 procedures in 59 centers nationwide in the first month after launch. Over the course of the year, the company expects to have more than 300 physicians across the country trained to effectively deliver DRG therapy to patients in immediate need of targeted stimulation to alleviate chronic pain resulting from moderate to severe chronic intractable pain of the lower limbs in adult patients with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) types I and II.

According to the Institute of Medicine, chronic pain affects more than 100 million Americans, an incidence rate which outpaces heart disease, cancer and diabetes combined. Neuropathic pain represents one of the most prevalent yet under-treated forms of chronic pain in the United States, with an estimated one in every 10 adults over the age of 30 suffering from the condition.

Initial results from the ACCURATE IDE study, the largest study to date evaluating patients suffering from neuropathic chronic intractable pain associated with CRPS I and II or peripheral causalgia (PC), showed DRG stimulation provided patients with superior pain relief over traditional tonic SCS. Approval of DRG stimulation with the St. Jude Medical Axium Neurostimulator System was based in part on the results of this study in which patients were randomized to receive either DRG stimulation delivered by the Axium neurostimulator system or traditional tonic SCS therapy delivered by a competitor’s system.

For more information, please visit St. Jude website by clicking here.

Earlier news: St. Jude Medical Announces the European Launch of the Trifecta Surgical Valve with Glide Technology