Laborie Medical Technologies has taken another step in a steady cadence of acquisitions, picking up prostate balloon treatment maker Urotronic in a deal worth up to $600 million.
The transaction includes an upfront cash payment of $255 million, with a potential $345 million more tied to commercial milestones and future reimbursement coverage. Laborie previously made a minority investment in the Minnesota-based device developer; minus the recovery of its prior stake, those numbers drop to $232 million and $314 million, respectively, according to the company.
But why stop there? Laborie is also getting back in line for another go-round by signing on to make a $5 million equity investment in a Urotronic spinout. GIE Medical aims to translate Urotronic’s Optilume drug-coated balloon approach into a treatment for benign strictures of the gastrointestinal tract, including narrowings of the esophagus, small intestine and bowels.
Optilume received a clearance from the FDA this past July as an outpatient procedure to treat benign prostatic hyperplasia, the condition better known as BPH. It employs a paclitaxel-laden balloon that inflates and expands across two sections to widen the urinary tract, relieving the symptoms of a swelling prostate without the need for surgically altering tissue or the placement of a permanent implant.
“There has never been a minimally invasive, combination drug-device therapy like Optilume before, leading to a highly disruptive paradigm change for physicians treating urethral strictures and BPH,” Laborie President and CEO Mike Frazzette said in a statement.
The Urotronic buy follows multiple additions to Laborie’s device portfolio in the past 18 months—including February’s acquisition of Novonate and its NICU-focused LifeBubble system for umbilical catheters, as well as April 2022’s purchase of GI Supply and its portfolio of endoscopy products, both for undisclosed amounts.
Prior to that, the company acquired Pelvalon in October 2021, with its Eclipse system for women experiencing fecal incontinence.