Boston Scientific Corporation has announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Nalu Medical—a company developing minimally invasive solutions for patients with chronic pain. With Boston Scientific having been a strategic investor in Nalu since 2017, the transaction consists of an upfront cash payment of approximately US$533 million for the remaining equity not already owned by Boston Scientific.
“Peripheral nerve stimulation [PNS] is an exciting field with a significant unmet patient need,” said Jim Cassidy, president, neuromodulation, Boston Scientific. “Adding the highly differentiated Nalu Medical technology complements our existing therapies, including spinal cord stimulation, basivertebral nerve ablation and radiofrequency ablation, enabling us to deliver advanced pain relief options to a wider variety of patient populations.”
The Nalu neurostimulation system is designed to deliver targeted relief for adults living with severe, intractable chronic pain of peripheral nerve origin—including areas like the shoulder, lower back and knee—through PNS. The system features a miniaturised, battery-free implantable pulse generator that is powered wirelessly by a small, externally worn therapy disc and controlled via a smartphone app.
Nalu received US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 510(k) clearance for its neurostimulation system in 2019.
In the COMFORT and COMFORT 2 randomised controlled trials evaluating the safety and efficacy of PNS therapy, the system demonstrated significant and sustained pain relief. In COMFORT, 87% of participants reported a >50% reduction in pain at 12 months, while, in COMFORT 2, 79% of patients reached an average pain relief of 64% at six months. Additionally, real-world data from more than 2,000 individuals have reinforced these findings, with 94% of patients achieving clinically meaningful improvements across a broad range of chronic peripheral nerve pain conditions, as stated in a Boston Scientific press release.
Boston Scientific anticipates completion of this transaction in the first half of 2026, subject to customary closing conditions, while Nalu is expected to generate sales in excess of US$60 million in 2025 and deliver year-over-year growth in excess of 25% in 2026. On an adjusted basis, the transaction is expected to be immaterial to adjusted earnings per share (EPS) in 2026, slightly accretive in 2027, and increasingly accretive thereafter. On the basis of generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), the transaction is anticipated to be more dilutive due to amortisation expense and acquisition-related charges, according to the release.
