NuVasive acquires Vertera Spine

NuVasive Inc. (NSDQ:NUVA) said today that it acquired Vertera Spine and its interbody implants for an undisclosed amount.

Atlanta, Ga.-based Vertera developed the Cohere and Coalesce implants using porous version of the  material polyetheretherketone, or PEEK. San diego-based NuVasive said the buyout makes it the only company to offer spinal implants made of PEEK and titanium.

“With the addition of porous PEEK technology, NuVasive takes the next step in building out its advanced materials science technology focused on delivering the highest level of scientifically driven properties for best spinal fusion rates, including porosity, visualization, surface and structure. This in turn helps to create more predictable, improved outcomes for patients undergoing spine surgery,” chairman & CEO Gregory Lucier said in prepared remarks. “Our go-to-market plans include adding Vertera Spine’s FDA-cleared products to NuVasive’s commercial offerings, as well as applying the porous PEEK technology to our innovation roadmap as we further build out our pipeline of highly differentiated products to increase our market penetration.”

“Vertera Spine is excited to join NuVasive to further proliferate our game-changing material technology, as they bring to bear the industry’s leading product innovation capability as well as the scale and resources necessary to realize our full potential. Since founding the company in 2013, our goal has been to help reach more surgeon customers and their patients with this disruptive technology. Together, we will now be able to better serve the market and change the lives of patients around the world,” added Vertera CEO Chris Lee.

“The development of porous PEEK was a breakthrough discovery based on nearly ten years of scientific research. The end result of this fundamental materials work was the first load bearing porous polymer scaffold used in the human body that is both high-strength and finely tuned to promote bony attachment,” Ken Gall, chairman of Duke University’s mechanical engineering & materials dept., said in a press release.

Vertera won 510(k) clearance from the FDA for the Coalesce implant in July, a month after raising a $3 million funding round. The FDA cleared the Cohere device in October 2015.