Dive Brief:
- Medtronic said Thursday it has completed its $650 million takeover of SPR Therapeutics, adding a pain treatment to its neuromodulation portfolio.
- SPR sells a temporary, minimally invasive device, Sprint, that the Food and Drug Administration has cleared for providing 60 days of peripheral nerve stimulation to treat pain.
- Medtronic, which struck two of the top 10 medtech deals of the first half of the year, has identified the device as a way to intervene earlier in the treatment of chronic pain.
Dive Insight:
Neuromodulation is an area of strategic focus and investment for Medtronic, CFO Thierry Piéton said on an earnings call in June. Buying SPR furthers Medtronic’s targeting of the market by moving the business into an attractive space growing over 20% annually, the CFO added. Medtronic reported low-single-digit growth in neuromodulation sales in its fiscal fourth quarter, ending in April.
SPR received 510(k) clearance for a version of its Sprint device in 2017, citing its own Smartpatch device as the predicate. Sprint doubled the duration of therapy, from 30 days to 60 days.
Researchers have built out the evidence supporting Sprint. This year, a multicenter clinical trial funded by the Department of Defense and SPR linked Sprint to statistically significant improvements in pain relief compared with standard interventional management for chronic low back pain at three months. A paper published in 2025 and funded by SPR reported evidence that benefits persist up to five years after treatment.
Pooled results from 13 studies found that 60% of patients achieved a 50% or greater reduction in pain at the end of the 60-day treatment.
The SPR acquisition, which Medtronic disclosed in May, is part of the company’s push to expand into high-growth areas through business development deals. In neuromodulation, Medtronic inked a deal to distribute Merit Medical Systems’ FDA-cleared basivertebral nerve ablation system, ViaVerte, for the treatment of low back pain.
Outside neuromodulation, Medtronic bought CathWorks for $585 million and acquired Scientia Vascular for $550 million. The company, which also invested in Beluga Medical and CardioACC, has decided to go “back on offense in M&A,” Piéton said at a Leerink event in March.
