By David Olmos
Feb. 26 (Bloomberg) — NuVasive Inc., the maker of surgical treatments for the spine, gained the most ever in Nasdaq trading after the company said health insurer Aetna Inc. approved reimbursement for its surgical spine treatment.
San Diego-based NuVasive rose $9.66, or 33 percent, to $39.35 at 2:03 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market composite trading after gaining 43 percent earlier. It is the biggest intraday gain since the company first offered public shares on May 13, 2004.
Aetna will cover the procedure known as lateral interbody fusion, reversing its earlier policy that the treatment was experimental, NuVasive said in a statement. The North American Spine Society recommended Jan. 5 that the procedure be covered, according to the statement.
“NuVasive will update its reimbursement Web site accordingly,” the company said in a statement.
–Editors: Andrew Pollack, Donna Alvarado
To contact the reporter on this story: David Olmos in San Francisco at dolmos@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Reg Gale in New York at rgale5@bloomberg.net
