Boston Scientific began a deal to acquire Nalu Medical, a privately-held company focused on minimally invasive solutions for chronic pain.

The transaction involves an upfront cash payment of about $533 million for any remaining equity not already owned by Boston Scientific. The company has been a strategic investor in Nalu since 2017.

The Nalu neurostimulation system provides targeted relief for adults living with severe, intractable pain originating in peripheral nerves using peripheral nerve stimulation (PNS). This includes areas like the shoulder, lower back, and knee. The therapy leverages mild electrical pulses to interrupt pain signals before reaching the brain.

The system is comprised of a miniature, battery-free implantable pulse generator, which is powered wirelessly by a small, externally worn therapy disc and controlled with a smartphone app.

Nalu earned U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 510(k) clearance for the Nalu system in 2019. The COMFORT and COMFORT 2 trials evaluated PNS’ safety and efficacy—in COMFORT, 87% of study subjects reported an over 50% pain reduction at 12 months, and in COMFORT 2, 79% of patients reached an average pain relief of 64% at six months.

Real-world data from over 2,000 people reinforced this data, with 94% of patients achieving clinically meaningful improvement for a range of chronic peripheral nerve pain conditions.

Boston Scientific expects the transaction to be completed in the first half of 2026. Nalu is anticipated to generate sales of over $60 million in 2025, with year-over-year growth of over 25% in 2026. On an adjusted basis, the transaction is expected to be immaterial to adjusted earnings per share (EPS) in 2026, slightly accretive in 2027, and increasingly accretive thereafter.

“Peripheral nerve stimulation is an exciting field with a significant unmet patient need,” said Jim Cassidy, president, Neuromodulation, Boston Scientific. “Adding the highly differentiated Nalu Medical technology complements our existing therapies—including spinal cord stimulation, basivertebral nerve ablation and radiofrequency ablation—enabling us to deliver advanced pain relief options to a wider variety of patient populations.”

The Nalu PNS system was approved for whole-body MRI use in January of this year and released a smaller, more comfortable therapy disc in August.