19月23日，美国心脏设备制造商圣犹达医疗用品公司表示，将会以13亿美元现金收购高级神经调节系统（ANS）公司。

    据路透社10月17日报道，通过此项收购行动，圣犹达医疗用品公司将在慢性疼痛以及神经系统失调医疗设备研发方面取得长足的进步。据圣犹达公司总裁丹·斯塔克斯透露：“业务的多样化会促进公司的发展。”

    目前为止，圣犹达医疗用品公司是世界第3大可植入医疗设备制造商，旗下的产品主要针对心脏器官。据悉，圣犹达将以每股61.25美元的价格收购位于得克萨斯州普莱诺的ANS公司，这个价格要比目前ANS公司的实际股票价格高出30％。

    随着对于ANS的收购，圣犹达公司的业务范围将从传统的心脏设备市场逐渐扩展到可植入神经设备市场。据悉，ANS生产的可植入设备，以微小电流的方式刺激患者脊髓，或者通过直接向神经元输送药物的方式对患者进行治疗。

    另一方面，除去传统的慢性疼痛症治疗方案，ANS还在帕金森症的治疗方面取得了不俗的战绩。据公司透露，此项收购计划将会在今年年底之前完成，届时圣犹达将占据脊髓刺激医疗设备市场的第2位。

    目前为止，圣犹达公司已经在国际范围享有了很高的声誉，产品销往全球130多个国家。与此同时，ANS的海外市场也达到了30多个国家。

    Heart-device manufacturer St. Jude Medical Inc.said on Sunday it would buy Advanced Neuromodulation Systems for about $1.3 billion in cash in gain new products used to treat chronic pain and nervous-system disorders.

    St. Jude Medical, the No. 3 maker of implantable devices that regulate heart rhythms, will pay $61.25 for each share of ANS. That marks a 30 percent premium over ANS's closing price Friday of $46.98 on Nasdaq.

    The acquisition will allow St. Jude to expand beyond the cardiac market into neurology. ANS makes implantable devices that stimulate the spinal cord by sending tiny, precise doses of electricity or drugs directly to nerve sites.

    "This diversifies our growth, while also giving us an opportunity to accelerate it," St. Jude Chairman Dan Starks said in a telephone interview.

    In addition to its current products that treat chronic pain, ANS also has clinical trials underway to treat Parkinson's disease. It is also exploring treatment for migraine headaches, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and obesity.

    Commenting on the price tag, Starks said: "We paid what we paid as the result of really very tough negotiations." The two companies came together after their investment bankers began talking in March.

    "ANS shareholders are getting good value, they're getting good value immediately. We're pleased to be able to put the cash in their hands very quickly and then have all of us move forward together," Starks said. 　

    The deal, which is expected to close by the end of the year, will immediately give St. Jude the No. 2 market-share position in the spinal cord stimulation market.

    St. Jude may enter other markets, but "we really have plenty in our current growth platforms to keep us busy for quite some time to come," Starks said.

    St. Paul, Minnesota-based St. Jude said there would be no jobs cuts. The company said it would expand ANS's product line internationally.

    St. Jude currently sells products in 130 countries. International sales represent about 40 percent its annual revenues. ANS, meanwhile, serves 30 countries and gets less than 10 percent of its revenues from international sales.

    "St. Jude gives us resources and infrastructure a smaller company just doesn't have," ANS's Chief Executive Chris Chavez said in a telephone interview.

    "It gives us more powerful access to the global market and important domestic organizational capabilities, expertise in clinical trials, expertise in manufacturing, the opportunity to exchange technologies," Chavez said.

    St. Jude said the acquisition of Plano, Texas-based ANS would boost its earnings in 2007 and will not affect its 2006 earnings expectations.

    St. Jude is scheduled to report its third-quarter earnings on Monday. Analysts expect St. Jude to earn 39 cents a share, according to Reuters Estimates.