Stryker, one of the world’s largest medtech companies, announced on January 28 that it would be selling its Spinal Implants business to Viscogliosi Brothers, a New York-based, family-owned investment firm founded in 1999 by three brothers.
According to the press release, Viscogliosi Brothers will create a new company, VB Spine, LLC to manage the spinal implants business. The sale is expected to close in the first half of 2025.
Stryker plans to partner with VB Spine going forward. Kevin Lobo, CEO of Stryker, stated during Stryker’s Q4 2024 earnings call: “So we will be providing the enabling tech. They will be providing the implants.” The enabling tech includes exclusive access to Stryker’s CoPilot and Mako Spine product lines.
When asked why it was the right time for the divestment, Kevin Lobo explained:
We’ve moved into so many other faster growing spaces, and this is really where we’d like to spend our time and our energy. It’s a very competitive market on the implant side of the business where we just haven’t had the same degree of innovation that we’ve had in other parts of our portfolio. So this felt like the right time.
Regarding the sale, the Viscogliosi Brothers commented: “We see a tremendous opportunity to provide the focus, surgeon-centric innovation, and commercial execution needed to grow the business and further impact patient lives and outcomes.”
The press release states that the Viscogliosi Brothers have led the transformation of multiple businesses in the spine industry specifically including: Spine Solutions, Spine Next, Paradigm Spine, Simplify Medical, Centinel Spine, Companion Spine, Spine BioPharma and Woven Orthopedics Technologies, among others.
The sale of Stryker’s Spinal Implants business comes on the heels of Stryker’s expansion into the peripheral vascular market, with its recent acquisition of Inari Medical in early 2025. Stryker had a busy year in 2024, with 7 acquisitions in a variety of technology sectors.
When asked about Stryker’s prioritized list of current focus areas for M & A during the Q4 2024 earnings call, Kevin Lobo stated that Stryker will continue to look within the peripheral vascular space for follow-on acquisitions and also mentioned the urology, neuromodulation, soft tissue robots, and health care IT spaces. However, he commented that Stryker will likely not make a jump into the cardiovascular segment in the near term.
