Medicrea (EPA:ALMED) announced that it is engaged in active discussions with potential strategic partners in the U.S. spine industry as it seeks to execute an agreement resulting in a company takeover, partnerships or distribution agreements.
The company said that leading U.S. groups have made regular approaches to share industry developments and review potential strategic partnerships around its UNiD adaptive spine intelligence (ASI) technology platform.
The UNiD ASI is designed to use artificial intelligence to enhance clinical and surgical workflow, increase reproducibility, improve surgical outcomes and expand the potential for surgeons. The platform is designed to allow the surgeon to plan cases in the pre-operation stage, with the AI providing a way to visualize mechanisms above and below the spine that will most likely occur based on the surgical plan. Last week, the company announced that it won seven new patents for the UNiD ASI.
According to a news release, Medicrea already reviewed offers from 2019 that were “significantly above” current trading prices, but elected not to pursue them. The company said the generated interest led it to attempt to maximize market access by using the sales and marketing resources of the groups, so it hired investment bank Cowen & Company to assist it along the way.
Currently, Medicrea says the discussions are only preliminary and no firm and binding proposals have been received, so there is no certainty that ongoing discussions will result in a transaction. As a result, the company said it plans to move forward with a fundraising effort to meet its 2020 financial needs.
“Under confidentiality agreements and in compliance with the applicable regulations on public information, the company states that it is currently providing interested parties with the necessary information to enable them to assess the strategic and financial terms and conditions that may lead them to formulate various proposals for cooperation,” Medicrea CEO Denys Sournac said in the release.
Until an agreement is reached or abandoned, Medicrea said it does not plan to make any further comment beyond its latest news release.
Shares of ALMED were up 15.3% at $4.10 (€3.69) per share in late-morning trading today.
