Dive Brief:

• DePuy Synthes, Johnson & Johnson’s orthopedics subsidiary, has acquired Expanding Innovations, a company that makes expandable spine implant technology. 
• The companies did not disclose the terms of the acquisition, announced Thursday.
• The acquisition comes as J&J plans to spin out DePuy into a standalone company. DePuy has recently appointed leaders for the business, including naming a CFO in June.

Dive Insight:

Expanding Innovations makes expandable implants for spine surgery that don’t use screws. The interbody cages are placed between vertebrae during procedures. Expanding Innovations’ technology is intended to prevent cage collapse and vertebral subsidence, a complication where an implant sinks into the adjacent bone after a procedure. 

DePuy said in a statement that the acquisition is expected to strengthen its spine portfolio and grow its position in the expandable interbody cage segment. The technology is expected to complement DePuy’s existing spine system and integrate with its Velys robotic platform. 

Expanding Innovations currently has devices on the market for lumbar fusion procedures. The company plans to add to its portfolio with new versions of its transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion and lateral lumbar interbody fusion devices, and expand into anterior lumbar interbody fusion, which uses a different surgical approach.