Dive Brief:
- Boston Scientific said Monday it has agreed to acquire Valencia Technologies, a developer of treatments for bladder dysfunction, for an undisclosed sum.
- Valencia makes the eCoin tibial nerve stimulator, which received Food and Drug Administration approval in 2022 to treat urinary urge incontinence. The leadless device is implanted near the ankle.
- The deal will allow Boston Scientific to expand into a high-growth area that complements the company’s existing pelvic health product line, Meghan Scanlon, Boston Scientific’s president of urology, said in a statement.
Dive Insight:
Valencia’s eCoin device automatically stimulates the tibial nerve at periodic intervals to help regulate communication between the brain and bladder. The device is intended for patients who have undergone a successful trial of percutaneous tibial nerve stimulation — an in-office treatment — or for patients who can’t tolerate or don’t respond well to more conservative incontinence treatments.
In the eCoin pivotal trial, 68% of patients saw at least a 50% reduction in urinary urge incontinence episodes, Boston Scientific said.
The deal would set up Boston Scientific to compete with Medtronic, which sells a similar neuromodulation device, called Altaviva, to treat urinary incontinence. BlueWind Medical’s Revi device is another competitor in the space.
Truist Securities analyst Richard Newitter, in a note to clients Monday, said the Valencia acquisition is a cost-efficient complement to Boston Scientific’s implantable portfolio and gives the company a competitive response to Medtronic’s Altaviva tibial stimulation device.
Boston Scientific anticipates completing the transaction in the first half of this year and said it expects it to have an immaterial impact on adjusted earnings per share in 2026.
Boston Scientific also sells the Axonics sacral neuromodulation system to treat overactive bladder and fecal incontinence. The device delivers electrical pulses to the sacral nerve via an implant in the patient’s lower back.
The company’s $3.7 billion acquisition of Axonics in November 2024, after a lengthy review by the Federal Trade Commission, was one of the year’s larger medtech deals.
