Dive Brief:

• Stryker has struck its fourth takeover in as many months, acquiring Nico Corporation to add minimally invasive solutions for brain tumor removal and stroke care to its portfolio.
• Nico sells devices for navigating through the brain, visualizing the organ, removing tumors and clots and collecting tissue. The company received clearance for a device that allows visualization of the surgical field during brain surgery in 2012 and has since expanded its portfolio.
• Stryker will slot the products into a neurocranial business that reported U.S. organic sales growth of almost 11% in the second quarter. Specifically, the devices will form part of a neurosurgical unit that Stryker called out as a growth driver in the fourth quarter of 2023. Stryker did not disclose the terms of the deal.

Dive Insight:

Stryker CEO Kevin Lobo said the company had a “very active deal pipeline” on an earnings call in July. The focus was on smaller acquisitions and fast-growing assets, Lobo said. The Nico buyout is the latest in a series of deals that fit Lobo’s description. Stryker agreed to buy Artelon for its soft tissue repair technology in June and inked deals to acquire patient monitoring firm Care.ai and back pain player Vertos Medical in August.

The Nico acquisition gives Stryker control of the Brainpath and Myriad products used in the treatment of intracerebral hemorrhages. A clinical trial that tested the devices in the minimally invasive removal of clots suggested the approach achieves better outcomes than the standard of care.

Half of the patients underwent minimally invasive surgery and received guideline-based medical management. The other half only received guideline-based medical management. After 180 days, people who underwent minimally invasive surgery had better scores on a disability scale. The rate of death after 30 days was lower in the surgery group (9.3%) than in the control cohort (18%).

The current guidelines only support the removal of clots via conventional brain surgery as a lifesaving treatment. That position reflects the failure of randomized trials to show conventional surgery improves outcomes. Minimally invasive procedures have delivered mixed results, with a study sponsored by Johns Hopkins University failing to show an effect on a disability scale one year after treatment.  

Nico raised $12.5 million in 2018 and the same amount in 2022 to fund its study and other activities. When it disclosed the second financing, Nico said revenues grew 25% in 2021 and it was on course to achieve similar growth in 2022.

The company added another product to its portfolio in March when the Food and Drug Administration cleared its Myriad Spectra Light Source for use in the U.S. The accessory to the Myriad system provides light for visualizing suspected tumors in the nervous system during surgery.