A federal appeals court today again upheld its decision to award a win to NuVasive Inc. (NSDQ:NUVA) in 1 of its long-running patent infringement battles with spine implant rival Medtronic (NYSE:MDT). The U.S. Supreme Court in January remanded the case back to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, after deciding last year that a defendant’s belief regarding patent validity […]
Spine
Medtronic reorganizes its restorative therapies segment
Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) is shuffling the deck at its restorative therapies group as it looks to boost its ailing spine and neuromodulation businesses. Fridley, Minn.-based Medtronic said yesterday that restorative therapies sales were up just 1% to $1.88 billion, including a -1% decline for its spine division at $737 million and a -5% slide to $494 million in neuromodulation. […]
Spine Wave closes $11m round to support portfolio expansion
Spine Wave said today it closed a $11 million round of new financing to support “the largest product portfolio expansion in the company’s history.” The round was led by existing investors New Enterprise Associates and Acadia Woods, and joined by Compass Global Fund, Industry Ventures, Collinson, Howe and Lennox, California Technology Partners and MB Ventures, the […]
Ortho Kinematics wins Health Canada nod for VMA system
Ortho Kinematics said today it won Health Canada authorization for its Vertebral Motion Analysis spinal imaging system. The VMA system from Austin, Texas-based Ortho Kinematics uses fluoroscopy to capture images of the spine in motion, is designed to displace traditional X-ray imaging as the primary method for identifying spinal dysfunction, the Austin, Texas-based company said. The […]
Providence Medical touts 2-year cervical fusion data, $2.9m funding round
Cervical spine-focused Providence Medical last week released 2-year radiographic and clinical outcomes from a study of its DTrax system of instruments and implants and announced a $2.8 million round of equity financing. Results from the single-arm, multi-center study were presented at the Spine Week 2016 conference in Singapore last week, the Walnut Creek, Calif.-based company said. “The […]
NuVasive launches Attrax bone putty in the U.S.
NuVasive Inc. (NSDQ:NUVA) said today that it’s launching its Attrax bone putty in the U.S., after winning 510(k) clearance from the FDA in October 2015. The synthetic bone graft putty is designed to encourage bone growth at the site of a spinal fusion procedure. “We are excited to officially launch Attrax putty for surgical use in […]
Medtronic launches new cervical spine platform in the U.S.
Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) said today that it launched its Spine Essentials platform for cervical spine fusions. The offering is aimed at increasing the efficiency of the most common 1- and 2-level fusion procedures, using sets with the most common implant sizes sterile packaged with smaller instrument sets. Compared with standard kits, the Spine Essentials kits cut cost by […]
FDA approves Boston Scientific’s Precision Montage MRI-safe spinal cord stimulator
Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX) said it won FDA approval for its Precision Montage MRI-safe spinal cord stimulator for chronic pain and plans to launch the device tomorrow. The Precision Montage MRI SCS is cleared for full-body, 1.5 Tesla MRI scans, the Marlborough, Mass.-based company said. It’s designed to deliver multiple waveforms so patients can tailor their therapy as their pain […]
Medtronic: Infuse data delay was inadvertent
Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) reportedly said this week that its years-long delay in releasing adverse event data for its controversial Infuse bone-growth protein was inadvertent. The Minneapolis Star Tribune last month reported that a 2-year Medtronic review of some 3,647 Infuse patients in 2008 turned up about 1,000 adverse events that weren’t reported to the FDA until 2013. That prompted Sens. Al Franken […]
Mazor Robotics inks $42m deal with Medtronic
Mazor Robotics (NSDQ:MZOR) said today that it inked a 2-phase deal with Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) for its robot-assisted spine surgery technology that includes a co-promotion agreement and an equity investment that could see Medtronic wind up with a 15% stake in the Israeli company for as much as $42 million. Caesarea, Israel-based Mazor said the 1st phase of […]
InVivo adds 20th clinical site to Inspire study
InVivo Therapeutics (NSDQ:NVIV) said today it added Philadelphia’s Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania as a site in the Inspire study of its neuro-spinal scaffold, bringing the total number of sites up to 20. The Cambridge, Mass.-based company’s neuro-spinal scaffold is surgically implanted following acute spinal cord injuries to act as a physical substrate for nerve […]