Dive Brief:
- Boston Scientific said Friday it agreed to buy Nalu Medical, maker of a treatment for chronic peripheral nerve pain, to expand its neuromodulation portfolio.
- The company, which has been an investor in Nalu since 2017, said it will pay $533 million for the remaining equity that it does not already own. The purchase values Nalu at $600 million in total.
- Analysts said the transaction continues Boston Scientific’s strategy of expansion through tuck-in deals. “The acquisition fits Boston Scientific’s strategy of bringing in private investments to expand the portfolio,” Citi Research analyst Joanne Wuensch said in a note Friday.
Dive Insight:
Nalu’s neurostimulation system uses an implantable generator to send electrical impulses to interrupt pain signals before they reach the brain. The treatment, which received Food and Drug Administration clearance in 2019, targets pain in areas such as the shoulder, lower back and knee.
The acquisition complements Boston Scientific’s existing interventional pain treatments, including spinal cord stimulation, basivertebral nerve ablation to treat low back pain and radiofrequency ablation, RBC Capital Markets analyst Shagun Singh said in a note Friday.
Boston Scientific has completed more than 40 deals in the past 10 years, according to Singh, and has about 45 active investments in its venture capital portfolio.
The analyst expects the company to remain focused on acquisitions. “M&A is [Boston Scientific’s] top capital allocation priority to execute on its category leadership strategy,” Singh wrote.
Nalu is expected to generate more than $60 million in sales in 2025 and then increase sales by more than 25% in 2026, Boston Scientific said in the announcement. The transaction is expected to be immaterial to adjusted earnings per share in 2026, slightly accretive in 2027 and increasingly accretive after that.
The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2026.
