Boston Scientific will buy Edina's Relievant Medsystems for at least $850M

Boston Scientific Corp. will acquire Edina-based Relievant Medsystems for at least $850 million.

Boston Scientific also will pay additional earn-out payments based on sales results over the next three years for Relievant's back surgery technology. The companies did not specify how much those payments would be.

Relievant's Intracept system addresses vertebrogenic pain, a specific type of back pain caused by damage to the vertebral endplates, where discs attach to the vertebrae. The Intracept system uses radiofrequency energy to stop the nerve from sending pain signals to the brain, and is the only system for vertebrogenic pain approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Relievant is on track for sales of more than $70 million this year and is expected to see growth topping 50% in 2024.

″We anticipate this novel, clinically backed technology can support our category leadership strategy while expanding access to care for individuals who need personalized treatment," said Jim Cassidy, president of neuromodulation for Boston Scientific, in a statement. "Upon close, we look forward to working with the Relievant team to explore opportunities to bring this high-growth therapy to a wider population of people living with chronic low back pain.″

Robbie Marcus, a J.P. Morgan analyst who focuses on med-tech companies, saw the deal as another potential growth driver for Boston Scientific.

"All in all, with a novel solution for vertebrogenic pain and a large market opportunity, we see this as another attractive tuck-in of a very high-quality asset for Boston that can leverage the company's existing presence in pain, and should help contribute to Boston's accelerating growth profile," Marcus wrote in a research note in the wake of the deal.

The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2024.

Relievant closed on a $50 million Series G financing round in March. Boston Scientific was not previously an investor in Relievant.

The company relocated to Minnesota from California in 2018. It has approximately 220 employees and an R&D/operations facility in Sunnyvale, Calif.

"Today is an exciting step forward to shaping the future of chronic low back pain with Boston Scientific as a leader in the interventional chronic pain space,″ Relievant CEO Tyler Binney said in a statement.

Boston Scientific has 8,700 employees in Minnesota after acquiring several Minnesota med-tech companies over the years. In July, Boston Scientific announced plans for building a new $170 million campus in Maple Grove.