Terumo buys sheath-maker Onset Medical

A Somerset medical device maker is boosting its line of minimally invasive surgery products with the acquisition of a California firm.

Terumo Medical Corp., the U.S. subsidiary of the Japanese firm Terumo Corp., said Monday it has acquired Irvine, Calif.-based Onset Medical Corp., which specializes in sheath technology used in minimally invasive cardiology and urology procedures.

“It’s a good acquisition,” said James Rushworth, senior vice president and general manager at Terumo Medical Corp. “There’s very little overlap both in terms of products, and infrastructure and people.”

The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Onset’s sheaths give doctors surgical access to perform procedures such as valve repairs or implants, or kidney stone removals, but they do so in a way limits the size of the access point, thus limiting the risk of excess trauma or other complications.

Rushworth said minimally invasive procedures are becoming more and more common.

“However some of the devices that doctors are trying to implant are rather large,” he said. “As some of the new devices grow in size, we needed to be able to accommodate those devices in a manner that allowed the physician to effectively use the device without creating any complications.”

Terumo already has its own line of sheaths and other access devices. Rushworth said Onset’s devices pick up where Terumo’s leave off.

“It fits very nicely with our product line and there is no overlap with what we currently sell,” he said. “It fits in from a size perspective at the upper end of our range.”

Onset will become part of the Terumo Interventional Systems unit. Rushworth is taking on the additional title of president of Onset.

Rushworth said the company isn’t planning any major reorganization as a result of the acquisition. Onset will remain in California, and he said no job cuts are planned.

“We’ll probably be adding a few folks,” he said.