NuVasive Announces Acquisition of Cervical Total Disc Replacem...( SAN DIEGO April 22 /- NuVasive Inc. (...),Health

SAN DIEGO, April 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- NuVasive, Inc. (Nasdaq: NUVA), a medical device company focused on developing products for minimally disruptive surgical treatments for the spine, announced today that it has agreed to purchase Cervitech(R) Inc., a New Jersey based company focused on clinical approval of the PCM(R) cervical disc system, a motion preserving total disc replacement device. This strategic acquisition allows NuVasive the potential to accelerate its entry into the growing mechanical cervical disc replacement market.

Alex Lukianov, Chairman and CEO of NuVasive said, "We believe that the cervical disc replacement market will become one of the fastest growing segments in spine over the next several years as surgeons and patients choose motion preservation over traditional fusion. The PCM investigational device has the potential to significantly accelerate NuVasive's entry into this important market. Cervitech is running an impressive clinical trial and the published clinical data verifies that the PCM offers significant benefits to patients. The potential approval will further strengthen our cervical product offering and will enable us to continue our trend of taking market share."

Massimo Calafiore, President of Cervitech Inc. said, "We are very pleased to have NuVasive continue the development of the PCM. We thank all those whose efforts have brought Cervitech to this point and we look forward to NuVasive's commercial success with the device."

Currently, the PCM investigational device is in an FDA-approved clinical trial in the United States and two year follow up is scheduled to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2009. NuVasive anticipates submitting for FDA approval in the first quarter of 2010. The Company expects modest sales outside the U.S. in the near term, with product revenue of
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