Trimedyne Stock Up 35% as Laser Gets FDA’s OK

Trimedyne Inc.’s stock soared 35% Friday after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration gave it clearance to market a laser to treat spinal disks that cause back pain.

The approval, the seventh such FDA clearance this year for the Irvine medical devices company, sent the stock up $2.25 to close at $8.63 in heavy over-the-counter trading.

With the approval, Trimedyne can begin selling its holmium “cold” laser, which costs about $145,000, for use on spinal disks. The laser is already approved for removing remove fatty deposits that clog blood arteries in the leg.

Although several other companies are competing with similar laser technologies for treatment of disks, “the market is huge,” said Trimedyne corporate secretary Richard A. Demmer.

An estimated 20 million Americans suffer lower back pain, Demmer said. Some forms of back pain are caused when spinal disks are injured and swell, putting pressure on the nerves inside the spinal column. In laser treatment, a fiber-optic cable is threaded inside a needle, which is inserted into the spine and positioned in the disk while physicians watch through a fluoroscope, Demmer explained.

When the laser is turned on, “it vaporizes a cavity in the center of the disk, causing the disk to come down to its normal proportions,” Demmer said.

“The treatment is an alternative to back surgery,” he said. “It’s obviously less invasive.”