Medtronic has completed its acquisition of France-based Medicrea International a pioneer in the transformation of spinal surgery through artificial intelligence (AI), predictive modelling and patient specific implants.
On July 15, 2020, the parties announced a friendly voluntary all-cash tender offer at the price of €7 per Medicrea share. As a result of completion of the tender offer, Medtronic currently owns in excess of 90% of Medicrea's share capital and voting rights and will shortly request the implementation of a squeeze-out procedure under French law, which will result in Medicrea becoming a wholly-owned subsidiary of Medtronic.
This is Medtronic's seventh acquisition completed in 2020.
Medicrea's product portfolio consists of 30+ 510(k) cleared or CE marked implant technologies, utilised in spinal surgeries for adult deformity, paediatric deformity and degenerative disease. The Medicrea solution is powered by predictive modelling and algorithms that measure and digitally reconstruct a patient's spine to its optimal profile. The UNiD ASI (Adaptive Spine Intelligence) platform has seen rapid growth this year despite elective surgery restrictions resulting from COVID-19.
Christopher Ames, director of spinal tumour and spinal deformity surgery at UCSF Medical Center in California, said: "We have entered the age of augmented intelligence in spinal surgery at the point of care. Through the power of predictive models, data collection and machine learning, a unique capability is created, allowing for a continuous cycle of improvement. Physicians will have augmented eyes through surgical navigation, augmented hands with robotics, and most importantly, augmented intelligence through full integration with machine intelligence impacting all aspects of the care pathway. This type of technology will likely lead to safer procedures and more reliable outcomes while preventing costly revision surgery. It is rewarding to see the spine industry fully embracing these new capabilities and investing in the future."
Spine surgery is one of the more complex procedures in healthcare because of the high number of different parameters that must be taken into consideration. In conventional spine surgery, surgeons manually bend spine rods in the operating room and there can be large variability in outcomes. The UNiD ASI platform uses a database of over 6,000 surgical cases to power algorithms that visualise multiple permutations, allowing surgeons to better understand their patients alignment before surgery, customise a surgical plan and use a personalised rod bent in the optimal plane to help ensure the goals of the surgery are achieved.
Jacob Paul, president of the cranial & spinal technologies operating unit at Medtronic, said: "By offering clinicians one of the most innovative, ground-breaking technologies, Medtronic is redefining spine procedures to help reduce variability and improve outcomes, with the ultimate goal of restoring long-term quality of life for more patients. Medtronic now becomes the first company to be able to offer an integrated solution including artificial intelligence driven surgical planning, personalised spinal implants and robotic assisted surgical delivery, which puts the power of these smart technologies directly into the hands of clinicians to make patient care more tailored and personalised."
