Zimvie Inc. will sell its spine business to private equity investor H.I.G. Capital for $375 million, a move that should clean up its balance sheet and allow it to focus on the more profitable dental business. The deal is structured as $315 million in cash plus a promissory note for $60 million with an interest rate of 10%, compounded semi-annually.
After years of battling to retain its hold on Grail Inc., Illumina Inc. finally announced that it will be unwinding the ill-fated acquisition of the multi-cancer early detection test maker. In addition to stiff opposition from activist investor Carl Icahn that cost Illumina’s previous CEO and board chair their positions, European and U.S. regulators have consistently opposed the deal.
MLA Diagnostics BV secured a strategic seven-figure investment in its recent investment round to support external validation of the company’s melanoma prognosis test. Co-founders NLC Health Ventures and Brightlands Life Sciences Ventures participated in the round along with LIOF, the regional development organization for the Limburg province of the Netherlands.
Integra Lifesciences Holdings Corp. agreed to acquire Acclarent Inc. from Johnson & Johnson’s Ethicon Inc. subsidiary for $275 million in cash at closing with a further $5 million contingent on achievement of certain regulatory milestones.
Edwards Lifesciences Corp. set analysts a-spin ahead of its investor day activities with the revelation it plans to launch its critical care unit as a stand-alone public company next year. Edwards expects that dividing the business will allow it to focus on cardiovascular and surgical markets.
Dexcom Inc. achieved the first integrations of an automated insulin delivery system (AID) approved for use in the U.S. with its G7 continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) integrating with Tandem Diabetes Care Inc.’s T2:slim X2, announced on Dec. 6, and integration with the Ilet Bionic Pancreas made by Beta Bionics Inc. revealed on Dec. 7.
Intuitive Ventures, the investment arm of Intuitive Surgical Inc., closed a $150 million fundraising round for its second fund, which will focus on investments in startups in three areas: precision diagnostics and interventions, digital ecosystems and improving health care access and coordination. Intuitive Surgical’s first venture fund raised $100 million that has been used to support more than 10 early-stage companies.
On Dec. 1, a judge in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware granted Natera Inc. a permanent injunction in its patent infringement suit against Archerdx Inc. and its former parent company, Invitae Corp., adding another block to the intellectual property wall of protection around the market dominance of Signatera, Natera’s molecular residual disease (MRD) assay.
Nevro. Corp. closed the acquisition of privately held Vyrsa Technologies Inc., adding the company’s V1 implant for sacroiliac (SI) joint fusion to its product line for chronic pain. Nevro paid $40 million at closing and agreed to up to $35 million in additional payments contingent on the achievement of certain development and sales milestones.
Johnson & Johnson completed the previously unheralded acquisition of privately held Laminar Inc. for $400 million upfront, with undisclosed contingent payments depending on achievement of clinical and regulatory milestones starting in 2024. The deal provides the med-tech giant a potentially game-changing entree into the lucrative left atrial appendage (LAA) market.
