Danish medical device maker Coloplast, which operates its North American headquarters out of Minneapolis, said Friday it bought Mpathy Medical for $30 million.
The acquisition will help Coloplast better compete against local rivals Medtronic Inc. (NYSE:MDT) and American Medical Systems Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:AMMD) in the estimated $500 million U.S. market for women stress urinary incontinence and pelvic restoration therapies.
Medtronic is based in Fridley, Minnesota, and AMS is headquartered in Minnetonka, Minnesota.
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Buying Mpathy “fits our overall strategy of building a stronger market presence in the female pelvic area,” said Dave Amerson, global vice president for Coloplast’s Minneapolis-based surgical urology unit.
About about 15 million women in the United States suffer stress urinary incontinence, according to the National Association for Continence. Women suffering from the disease lose bladder control when they cough, laugh or sneeze.
Advocates have urged the Food and Drug Administration to approve more devices to treat female stress urinary incontinence, but with limited success.
Amerson said the $220 million market for devices to treat female stress urinary incontinence is growing 13 percent a year.
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Coloplast has invested heavily in Minnesota. Last year, the company opened its massive $40 million North American headquarters, which includes manufacturing, research and development, and cadaver labs along the Mississippi River in northern Minneapolis. The company employs about 250-to-300 people in the Twin Cities.
Coloplast moved to Minnesota from Atlanta after buying Mentor’s urology business for $463 million in 2006. The company admired the state’s strong expertise in medical devices.
“If we want to be a serious device business, we needed to be in Minneapolis,” Amerson said.
He also noted Mpathy will be the first of several acquisitions Coloplast will pursue to boost its North American operations.
