Medicare starts paying a new technology add-on for Cerapedics' P-15 bone graft

MedDevice Startups Staff · 2 days ago · 2 min read · Via Cerapedics press release

PearlMatrix P-15 started drawing a Medicare new technology add-on payment on October 1, Cerapedics said. NTAP pays hospitals up to 65 percent of the additional technology cost on qualifying inpatient cases, on top of the DRG rate.

FDA approved the peptide enhanced bone graft in June 2025 for single-level transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion from L2 to S1 in degenerative disc disease. In the ASPIRE study behind the approval, more than twice as many patients fused at six months with PearlMatrix as with local autograft alone, and the gap held at 12 and 24 months. Roughly 60 percent of the cohort were nicotine users, had a BMI of 30 or higher, or had type 2 diabetes. The product carried a Breakthrough designation and ran under an IDE. Cerapedics is based in Westminster, Colorado.

NTAP runs two to three years and then stops, so it is a bridge to a permanent rate rather than a destination. The application window is annual and closes long before most sponsors are thinking about it. If your approval lands in the spring and you have not already filed, you wait a full fiscal year for the money.

Questions & Answers

What Medicare payment did Cerapedics get for PearlMatrix P-15?

Cerapedics said PearlMatrix P-15 began drawing a Medicare new technology add-on payment, or NTAP, effective October 1, 2026. The payment covers up to 65 percent of the additional technology cost on qualifying Medicare inpatient cases.

What is PearlMatrix P-15 approved for?

FDA approved Cerapedics' PearlMatrix P-15 peptide enhanced bone graft in June 2025 for single-level transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion from L2 to S1 in skeletally mature patients with degenerative disc disease.

What did the Cerapedics ASPIRE study show?

In the ASPIRE study supporting approval, more than twice as many patients achieved fusion at six months with PearlMatrix P-15 as with local autograft alone, and the result held at 12 and 24 months. About 60 percent of the cohort were nicotine users, had a BMI of 30 or higher, or had type 2 diabetes.

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