Early this morning, Integra LifeSciences anounced that it is has acquired the assets of Innovative Spinal Technologies, Inc. (IST) for $9.25 million in cash.
Although IST had a little over $2 million of revenue last year, the Company shut its doors in January and went into liquidation in May. The main reason Integra acquired the business was to add IST's Paramount minimally invasive spinal fusion technology to its otherwise plain vanilla product portfolio. In its press release this morning, Integra announced that it expects to launch Paramount in Q1 of 2010.
With the promise of certain motion preservation technologies deferred over the last several years and venture capitalists tiring of time-to-market issues, spine companies that want to be competitive have been looking to upgrade and refine fusion technologies that advance the continuum of care. We see this as the real trend in spine.
