Entry into Japan and New Product Offerings from NuVasive San Diego, Calif.-based spine surgery de

Entry into Japan and New Product Offerings from NuVasive
San Diego, Calif.-based spine surgery device company NuVasive Inc. has opened a new facility in Tokyo, Japan. The location will focus on bringing spine products to Japan, which is the second largest spine market in the world. Takaaki Tanaka, NuVasive’s executive vice president of the Asia-Pacific region, will head the Tokyo operations. Tanaka has been with the company since 2009, and has 20 years of experience in the spine industry.

“NuVasive’s formal presence in Tokyo is a testament to our commitment to surgeon customers and their patients in Japan,” said Tanaka. “We look forward to improving patient outcomes with superior clinical results as we further introduce XLIF and our comprehensive spine portfolio to the Japanese market.”

NuVasive recently completed several of the first Extreme Lateral Interbody Fusion (XLIF) surgical procedures in key cities and markets as a minimally disruptive option for lumbar spine fusion to patients and surgeons in Japan.

“As a company, we bring a wealth of experience in spine, with proprietary innovative procedures like XLIF and procedurally integrated solutions,” said Alex Lukianov, NuVasive’s chairman and CEO. “Our initial reception in Japan has been exceptional, and I look forward to working with Tanaka-san and Russell Powers, our executive vice president of international, to improve spine surgery in one of the world’s largest spine markets.”

According to the company, XLIF is a minimally disruptive surgical procedure performed through the side of the body that uses proprietary neuromonitoring and an integrated portfolio of instruments and specialized implants for treating a range of spinal pathologies.

NuVasive’s principal offering is the MAS (Maximum Access Surgery) platform, upon which the XLIF technology is built. According to officials, the MAS platform combines several categories of solutions that collectively minimize soft tissue disruption during spine surgery with maximum visualization and safe, easy reproducibility for the surgeon.

Shortly after NuVasive Inc. opened a new facility in Japan, the company acquired ANC LLC, along with ANC’s full-scale spine implant manufacturing facility in Dayton, Ohio. ANC has served as a manufacturing partner to NuVasive since May 2010, and it is currently one of NuVasive’s implant suppliers.

“We are very excited to welcome ANC’s 65-member team into the NuVasive family,” said Lukianov.
“Over the past three years, we have been very impressed with ANC’s progression as a quality manufacturer and their cultural fit with NuVasive. The facility will be designated NuVasive Manufacturing LLC, and we look forward to expanding their capacity and systems as we grow together. Bringing portions of our manufacturing in-house is a key element of our ongoing commitment to improve operating profitability as we grow toward $1 billion in revenue and beyond. With speed of innovation as a fundamental cornerstone of our success, the acquisition will reduce the time from the concept of a new idea to ultimate market introduction, enabling development and manufacturing to work seamlessly in launching our innovative solutions.”

NuVasive will pay approximately $4.5 million in the ANC deal, assuming no debt. The company anticipates the transaction will be neutral to earnings in fiscal year 2013. Over the long term, however, the company expects vertical integration likely will provide opportunities to drive profitability improvements.