Things Get Ugly Between NuVasive and Alphatec

The gloves are off between spine device rivals NuVasive and Alphatec. NuVasive filed a lawsuit this week against its ex-vice chairman, Patrick Miles, who is now executive chairman at Alphatec. The lawsuit claims that Miles schemed for more than a year to take business from NuVasive, but Alphatec denounced the complaint as a "frivolous PR stunt" and an attempt to damage the reputations of both it and Miles. According to NuVasive, the company was contacted in January 2016 by UBS Financial Services to explore a potential acquisition of Alphatec. Miles was NuVasive's president and COO at the time, and he advised the company that pursuing the acquisition was "a waste of time," and that Alphatec had an "aged, undifferentiated portfolio." The company decided to pass on the opportunity. Then, on March 22, 2017, Miles reportedly executed a securities purchase agreement for $500,000 of Alphatec stock in a private placement and concealed the investment by purchasing them through an entity called "MOM" and failing to disclose that he was the beneficial owner of the shares, NuVasive said in the complaint. Miles abruptly resigned from NuVasive on Oct. 1, at which time he told the company he planned to begin working for Alphatec the following day. NuVasive said that this, along with his subsequent actions to solicit NuVasive customers and recruit its employees, violated a contract he had previously signed. Also, the company noted, as part of his employment agreement with Alphatec, he recei...
Source: MDDI - Category: Medical Devices Authors: Tags: Medical Device Business Orthopedics Source Type: news