Marlborough, MA–based medical device company seeks to lead Endoscopic Ultrasound business with Xlumena purchase.
Boston Scientific is spending an initial $62.5 million to acquire San Diego–based Xlumena and its Endoscopic Ultrasound (EUS) guided system for gastrointestinal tract drainage.
Xlumena’s Axios stent and delivery system already has FDA approval for draining symptomatic pancreatic pseudocysts. Xlumena’s pre-acquisition owners stand to receive another $12.5 million if FDA approves the next generation Axios Hot, which incorporates cautery functionality into the delivery of the Axios stent.
Both systems have CE Marking for the purpose of facilitating transgastric or transduodenal endoscopic drainage of pancreatic pseudocysts or the biliary tract.
In a statement, Boston Scientific described Xlumena as a leader in therapeutic EUS. It plans to couple its Expect family of Fine Needle Aspiration (FNA) needles with the Xlumena technology.
"Our combined technologies enable physicians to diagnose and treat diseases of the pancreatico-biliary system using less invasive procedures. We are very pleased to be able to accelerate the global reach of the AXIOS stent and to be at the forefront of this fast growing segment,” David Pierce, senior vice president and president of endoscopy at Boston Scientific, said in a news release.
Endoscopy products made up 18% of Boston Scientific sales in 2014, bringing in $1.323 billion. Besides the Expect needles, Boston Sci also saw continued sales growth with its metal stent franchise driven by its Biliary WallFlex product family, and its hemostasis franchise with products such as its Resolution Clip for gastrointestinal bleeding.
While not engaging in mergers as large as Medtronic’s $48 billion acquisition of Covidien that closed in January, Boston Scientific has nevertheless been racking up smaller deals to bolster its technology portfolio.
Boston Scientific announced last month that it has agreed to acquire Endo International’s American Medical Systems urology portfolio for $1.6 billion. The deal includes the AMS product portfolio for treating urologic conditions, including benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), male stress urinary incontinence, and erectile dysfunction.
Last year, Boston Sci finalized its $415 million purchase of Bayer AG’s Interventional Division—a deal its officials said would help it build its vascular condition treatments business.
