In 2010, Olympus bought Stryker's troubled OP-1 putty for $60 million, hoping to expand its market. Now, the Japanese maker of medical devices and cameras says it's selling the Lebanon, NH, plant where the putty is made at a bargain price--and if it can't make a deal it will close the facility.
OP-1, a biotech product designed to regenerate bone in the spine, hip and knee, got approval for rare uses in 2004 under the FDA's humanitarian exemption. A criminal investigation followed, in which Stryker paid $15 million to settle charges it promoted OP-1 for off-label uses.
Meanwhile, Stryker ($SYK) had hoped for a full FDA approval that would bring an expanded list of approved uses. In the late aughts, it invested $100 million in the Lebanon facility, according to the local Valley News.
So this could be the second fire sale for the 180,000-square-foot Lebanon facility, which employs 130. An Olympus spokesman said the plant in Airport Industrial Park has been "written down" and priced to sell in an effort to find a buyer who will preserve jobs, according to Valley News.
If that doesn't happen in about two months, Olympus says it will start winding down, releasing the factory's entire workforce starting May 30 and shuttering the plant Aug. 29, the Valley News reports.
- read the Valley News report
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