Boston Scientific to acquire Nalu Medical in US$600m move to expand peripheral nerve stimulation portfolio
Boston Scientific has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Nalu Medical, a privately held medtech company developing minimally invasive neuromodulation therapies for chronic pain, in a deal that will further strengthen its position in interventional pain management.
The company has been a strategic investor in Nalu since 2017. Under the terms announced, Boston Scientific will pay approximately $533m in cash for the remaining equity it does not already own.
On a 100 per cent basis, before accounting for its existing stake and other closing adjustments, the transaction is valued at $600m. Completion is expected in the first half of 2026, subject to customary closing conditions.
Nalu Medical’s core product is the Nalu Neurostimulation System, designed for adults living with severe, intractable chronic pain of peripheral nerve origin in areas such as the shoulder, lower back and knee.
The peripheral nerve stimulation (PNS) therapy delivers mild electrical pulses to peripheral nerves, interrupting pain signals before they reach the brain.
The system is built around a miniaturised, battery-free implantable pulse generator (IPG) that is powered wirelessly via a small externally worn therapy disc and controlled through a smartphone app. The goal is to offer a long-lasting, fully featured system without the bulk of conventional implanted batteries, potentially reducing replacement procedures while giving patients more control over their therapy.
Nalu received US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 510(k) clearance for the system in 2019. Its evidence base includes the COMFORT and COMFORT 2 randomised controlled trials, which evaluated the safety and effectiveness of PNS for chronic peripheral nerve pain.
In COMFORT, 87 per cent of participants reported more than a 50 per cent reduction in pain at 12 months. In COMFORT 2, 79 per cent of patients achieved an average pain reduction of 64 per cent at six months. Real-world data from more than 2,000 patients further supported these outcomes, with 94 per cent achieving clinically meaningful improvement across a wide range of peripheral nerve pain indications.
“Peripheral nerve stimulation is an exciting field with a significant unmet patient need,” said Jim Cassidy, president of neuromodulation at 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.”
Boston Scientific expects Nalu to generate more than $60m in sales in 2025, with year-on-year revenue growth projected to exceed 25 per cent in 2026. On an adjusted basis, the transaction is expected to be immaterial to adjusted earnings per share (EPS) in 2026, become slightly accretive in 2027 and increasingly accretive thereafter. On a GAAP basis, the company anticipates greater dilutive impact due to amortisation and acquisition-related charges.
The acquisition will add a differentiated PNS platform to Boston Scientific’s neuromodulation portfolio, which currently spans spinal cord stimulation systems for chronic pain, basivertebral nerve ablation for vertebrogenic pain and radiofrequency ablation technologies.
By integrating Nalu’s miniaturised, battery-free system and supporting evidence base, the medtech giant is aiming to broaden treatment options for patients with complex chronic pain that does not respond to conservative therapies.
