Sticking out among the computer-centric companies of Sorrento Valley is one that welcomes surgeons from around the world to practice the latest minimally invasive spine-correcting procedures on cadavers.The hundreds of employees working at the NuVasive Inc.(Nasdaq: NUVA) headquarters are reminded of their company’s core mission every day; a glass enclosed, temperature-controlled lab lined with bodies donated to science sits right off of the lobby.NuVasive’s longtime mascot — a sprinting cheetah — guards the entrance in the form of a sculpture, frozen atop the company’s tag line, “Absolute Responsiveness.”
The agile theme continues inside. During training days, overhead lighting casts cheetah paw prints onto the carpet, guiding surgeons from sit-down workshop sessions to the lab.A herd of Japanese surgeons recently burst through its doors to learn reproducible techniques they can take back to NuVasive’s newest office that opened this month in Japan.NuVasive’s staff trains some 500 to 600 surgeons a year from its labs in San Diego and New Jersey, as well as in hospitals.
“The most important part of the lab is they come and understand all facets of procedure on cadaveric specimens,” said Keith Valentine, president and chief operating officer. “So that it’s a seamless transition when they get to their own OR.”Over the last decade, 100,000 live patients have gone under the knife for NuVasive’s flagship XLIF procedure, a lateral access surgery for anterior column correction and fusion.Surgeons can spend up to two to three hours working on the cadavers with NuVasive’s signature purple-colored tools, but the XLIF procedure typically takes 45 minutes in the real world.Surgeons also get to test their steady hands with a high-tech version of the board game “Operation.”NuVasive’s neuromonitoring system, which is simulated in the lab, detects nerves around the spine so that a surgeon doesn’t hit any of them. That can mean less blood loss and recovery time.
NuVasive’s portfolio of more than 75 products for lumbar, thoracic and cervical applications are paying off as spinal woes rise. Its 2012 revenue increased 15 percent to $620.3 million.Back pain is the No. 1 cause of health care expenditures in the United States, with a direct cost of $50 billion annually for diagnosis, treatment and rehab.The company hopes its arrival in Japan will up its position in the $8.2 billion global spine market, where it currently ranks No. 4.Spinal surgeries are in high demand in Japan, thanks to its increasingly aging population.“That is a key important access point, not only for the Asia Pacific but also from the world,” Valentine said. “Our larger competitors are in that marketplace and have been established there quite some time.”Its entrance into the country was a no-brainer, but getting there wasn’t easy due to the country’s tedious regulatory process.
“The Japan FDA is a very regimented process that takes greater than two years,” Valentine said. “We are working hard to get products registered.”The office will have NuVasive-employed satellite offices in Tokyo and other cities in Japan. NuVasive isn’t growing as quickly as it would like, thanks to a pesky 2.3-percent medical device tax being tacked onto the sales price of FDA-registered devices.The tax, which went into effect Jan. 1 under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, aims to raise $3.2 billion a year, on average, for the next 10 years.“What is challenging for us as an innovation-based company is the tax is not based on profits — it’s based on your revenue in the U.S.,” Valentine said.The tax eats up money that the 1,600-person global company would otherwise spend on programs, new hires and investments in innovation.“It significantly impacts our ability to expand,” Valentine said.In California alone, more than 150,000 jobs are tied to the spine, medical devices and biopharma, with an average income of over $100,000.“This is a large economic engine for California. This tax is directly impacting the ability for California companies to grow,” Valentine said.NuVasive executives are making quarterly trips to the U.S. Capitol to protest the tax.“We have been strongly voicing our opinion that this is the last thing we want to do for an industry thriving in the U.S.,” he said.NuVasive CEO Alexis Lukianov will be in Washington, D.C. next week for the Medical Device Manufacturers Association annual meeting. The MDMA board member will also meet with members of Congress to discuss the tax.”If you told me 10 years ago I had to spend a lot of time in D.C. talking about how important medical innovation is, I couldn’t imagine that being a priority for us,” Valentine said.The tax also keeps new ideas and inventions from getting off the ground, he argues.“That impacts our ability to partner, acquire and gain technological advantages through small startups,” he said.Source:Tierney Plumb.The Daily Transcript
NuVasive welcomes surgeons to San Diego
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