Spinal Implant Manufacturer to Open Office in N.J.

NuVasive Inc. is going bicoastal.

The San Diego, Calif.-based spinal implant manufacturer has negotiated a deal to lease a two-story office building in Paramus, N.J., a borough 20 miles northwest of Manhattan. The 65,000-square-foot structure, built in 2008, will include a training facility for doctors, and house research and development and sales personnel, according to The Record, a Hackensack, N.J.-based newspaper.

In a January presentation with analysts, NuVasive Chairman and CEO Alexis Lukianov said the company’s New York office would open July 1. He didn’t specify a location, saying only it would be in New Jersey “not far from Giants Stadium,” according to a Bloomberg News transcript of the presentation. The Record reported that NuVasive’s new office would open by the end of July, though a real estate broker mentioned in the article did not know how many jobs would be created in the Garden State. The broker, however, said the company has leased the Paramus property for 11 years.

“They wanted to be near a lot of cutting-edge hospitals with this new technology that they have,” said Sam Buckley, a broker with the commercial real estate brokerage CB Richard Ellis. Buckley was referring to NuVasive’s XLIF technology, which allows surgeons to operate on the spine through small incisions in the side rather than a large one in the back.

The company’s XLIF technology helped boost profits in the first quarter of 2010. NuVasive earned $1.1 million, or 3 cents per share for the three-month period ended March 31, according to the firm’s first-quarter earnings report. Revenue rose to $109.1 million, a 36.3 percent increase compared with the $80 million in revenue the company reported during the first quarter of 2009 and a 2 percent rise compared with the $106.9 million the firm generated during the fourth quarter of 2009.

While the exact number of positions the company will maintain in New Jersey remains unknown, it already has begun advertising for some of the jobs that will be based in Paramus. Some of those positions include surgeon education manager, desktop support technician and office manager.

“The new facility outside of New York City will allow NuVasive to take the next step in revolutionizing spine surgery by extending our reach to Europe and the East Coast/Midwest of the U.S.,” read one posting on the job site Indeed.com.