Ranfac CEO Harlan Adler discusses the company's strategic pivot from contract manufacturing to owning clinical technologies via its first acquisition, Cervos, focusing on patient-derived regenerative medicine. 

After more than 130 years in business and with a growing Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO) division that began in the 90s, Ranfac is making a major strategic shift.  SmartTRAK talks with Ranfac CEO Harlan Adler about the company's first acquisition (Cervos) and ongoing expansion into regenerative medicine and orthobiologics. Adler explains Ranfac's goal is to leverage a patient's own biology to promote healing, moving beyond their contract manufacturing roots to owning and scaling their own clinical technologies.

This discussion illustrates how a legacy manufacturer with extensive production expertise can become a leading innovator in the Orthobiologics Market. Click on the following video to learn more (14:43 min). A link to download the full transcript of the interview is also provided below.

Interview Transcript

SmartTRAK: This is David Shepard withSmartTRAK, GM and senior analyst for the orthobiologics and regenerative medicine segments. I'm joined by Harlan Adler, the CEO of Ranfac. Thank you very much for joining us. I appreciate it.

Harlan Adler: Yeah, of course. Thank you for having me.

So, obviously, a 130-year history with Ranfac, that's amazing. You recently acquired Cervos. That's the first time in the 130-year history that you've ever done an acquisition. Can you tell us a little bit about that and how things are going?

HA: In the Cervos acquisition, we were joint venture partners with Cervos Medical at the time. We did help launch the company. We were manufacturing all the products in Ranfac's facility, so I became very involved in that product line. I would say it became my baby, a little bit, inside of Ranfac. I think it was the right time for Ranfac. We felt that we had the company in a position where we were really ready, willing, and able to take that company to the next level. It's one thing to develop a product and manufacture a product, but then when you start working with some of the world's leading institutions, and they're incorporating your products into their everyday practice, you really get that validity. And that was something I was seeing with Cervos, it really helped me become that much more of a believer in this idea of utilizing a patient's own biology to help enhance healing. That's what the Cervos products do.

What we wanted to do was to scale the company to another level, and we felt that it was really only going to be able to be done efficiently and effectively if it was 100% owned by Ranfac. So, I sat down with the managing members from the other side of the joint venture at the time, and basically came to a mutual understanding that it made sense for this small autologous biologics company to be owned by a single company and made sense, as the manufacturer, for it to be us.

It was definitely a different direction from how Ranfac was really thinking about its own growth. Ranfac has really grown as a contract development and manufacturing organization. And we're very proud still to be manufacturing product across many, many specialties, and do quite a bit inside the orthopedic sector, specifically ... 

 Want to learn more about Ranfrac's first acquisition (Cervos) and their ongoing expansion into regenerative medicine and orthobiologics? Click the button below to download the full transcript of SmartTRAK GM/Sr Analyst, Orthobio & Regen David Shepherd's interview with Ranfac CEO Harlan Adler.

Interview Transcript

This is Kris Flinn with SmartTRAK.Today, I am joined by Giuseppe Tronci, lead academic founder and chief scientific officer, and Chris Stephenson, non-executive director from HYFACOL Limited.

HYFACOL is a UK-based spin-out from the University of Leeds. The company has developed HyFaCol, a collagen manufacturing platform that improves the production and quality of medical-grade collagen. A key initial focus is on chronic wound care, with the US skin substitute market worth almost $12 billion in 2025 and currently undergoing a reset following new reimbursement rules. In this interview, we'll discuss the development of the HyFaCol platform, how it's been used on patients, and look at what the future may hold.

Giuseppe and Chris, thank you for joining me today. Can we please start by telling me about HYFACOL as a company and the journey that you've been on?

Giuseppe Tronci: Thank you, Kris. So HYFACOL is a University of Leeds spin-out company that is basically developing a collagen manufacturing technology for skin substitute applications. It builds on more than 10 years of academic research into collagen. And through this phase of development, we have substantially de-risked technology, secured patents in the US and Europe, and also, and most importantly, shown that the products that we are developing enable full closure in animals, and more recently, at least 88% wound closure in pressure ulcers and diabetic foot ulcers in humans. So before going into the commercial phase and the next phase of development, let me perhaps describe a bit more what we have been doing in terms of technology development.

As you know, collagen plays a key role in wound healingin vivo. But when collagen is extracted ... 

Click the button below to download and read the full transcript of SmartTRAK Wound GM Kris Flinn’s interview with HYFACOL's Giuseppe Tronci and Chris Stephenson discussing the company’s patented collagen manufacturing platform, HyFaCol, the path to FDA approval and the outcomes of a recent clinical study.

Ferdinand Hui, MD, discusses the endovascular treatment of cerebral venous disorders, a potentially vast and underpenetrated market, and current challenges and opportunities in this emerging field in an interview with SmartTRAK at the 2026 SNIS CV & CSF Disorders Summit.

In the market for neurovascular devices, cerebral venous disorders are an emerging but growing area of research, product development and neurointervention. To date, the neurovascular field has primarily focused on treating conditions that affect the arterial side of the brain. However, in the last decade, an increasing number of researchers and physicians have focused on identifying and treating venous causes of various disorders and have developed and rapidly adopted new venous procedures, including venous sinus stenting, for the treatment of pulsatile tinnitus, idiopathic intracranial hypertension and headaches, among other disorders.

While this is a relatively new frontier in neurovascular, the market for these disorders is potentially vast and underserved and there is growing interest among physicians and neurovascular companies in advancing research and innovation to improve the diagnosis and treatment of neuro-venous disorders. To learn more about the latest research and innovation in this emerging field,SmartTRAKspoke with Ferdinand Hui, MD, a well-known figure in neurointervention and a key opinion leader in the endovascular treatment of cerebral venous disorders, at the Fourth Annual Society of NeuroInterventional Surgery’s (SNIS) Cerebral Venous and CSF Disorders Summit held March 5-7, 2026 in Colorado Springs, CO.. Dr. Hui is the medical director of Neurointerventional Surgery at the Queen's Medical Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, and a clinical professor of radiology at the University of Hawaii.

Listen to the interview below (30:11 min) to find out more, including current and emerging indications, the status of research and innovation, and challenges and opportunities ahead in the endovascular treatment of cerebral venous disorders. A link to download a full transcript of the interview is also provided below.

• Expanded Indications Lead to Expanded Growth - The Soft Tissue Replacement Market continues to incorporate cell-based therapies and bioscaffolds into repair, replacement and augmentation to enhance procedures with advanced products, such as ... (read more)
  
  
• Migration to Ambulatory Surgery Centers (ASCs) - The role of ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs) in sports medicine is expected to expand further in 2026. This shift is due to ... (read more)
  
  
• New CMS Guidelines Impact on Soft Tissue Replacement Procedures - In October 2025, CMS issued a final rule that announced   ... (read more)

Want to know what's on the horizon for Soft Tissue Replacement in 2026? Click the button below to download the complete "Soft Tissue Replacement: Trends to Watch in 2026" Market Outlook article by Emily Meng, SmartTRAK Analyst, Orthobiologics.

The 2026 cartilage replacement market is moving away from "one-size-fits-all" solutions toward a diversified, algorithm-driven approach tailored to specific biological profiles and patient needs. This evolving landscape features a spectrum of technologies, including refined osteochondral allografts, cell-expanded implants, and innovative synthetic scaffolds. As companies such as Arthrex and Vericel maintain dominance, new entrants are poised to expand treatment options across the continuum of care. 

Looking ahead at the trends in cartilage replacement for 2026, one fact is becoming increasingly clear: the quest for the "universal cartilage cure" has been officially abandoned. In its place, a more sophisticated reality has emerged, namely that a diversified approach is important for addressing the many different patient case presentations. 

This downloadable article explores how the 2026 marketplace is not defined by a single winner but by a spectrum of solutions designed to meet patients exactly where they are on the continuum of care, such as:

• Osteochondral Grafts: The Standard for Deep Defects in Young Patients - Advances in OCAs have been highlighted by new designs of graft-shaping instrumentation and graft-processing methods intended to extend cell viability. This will be an area of focus in 2026, as researchers and clinicians aim to ... (read more)  

• Cell Expanded Technologies: Is There Competition on the Horizon? - Vericel remains the undisputed leader (on a revenue basis) in the Cartilage Repair Market, with a 57.8% share in FY25. Buoyed by the successful expansion of its clinical provider network, which ended FY25 with over 900 surgeons trained on MACI Arthro, the company posted ... (read more)

SmartTRAK highlights three neurointerventional trends to watch in 2026.

SmartTRAK highlights recent news, research and trends in the market for neurointerventional devices and what’s impacting the US Market for Mechanical Thrombectomy, which is projected to reach a 5-year CAGR of +8.0% according to SmartTRAK. In this comprehensive, downloadable article, three neurointerventional trends to watch in 2026 are discussed in detail. They are:

1. Shift to Precision Thrombectomy - In 2026, SmartTRAK anticipates slower growth to continue in the treatment of patients with distal and medium vessel occlusions (DMVO) following the publication of several randomized controlled trials in 2025 (DISTAL, ESCAPE-MeVO, DISCOUNT) that found ... (read more)

2. Greater Focus on Expanded Indications - Companies competing in the market for neurointervention have been working closely with physicians, conducting research and leveraging neurovascular devices for use in adjacent markets and other indications, including ... (read more) 

3. Momentum Builds in the Intrasaccular Flow Disruptor Segment - In 2025, Terumo marked the 15-year anniversary of its WEB Aneurysm Embolization System, maintaining its single-player US market dominance in the intrasaccular flow disruptor market. That same year, the neurovascular space saw a surge of clinical activity in the segment, with multiple devices entering or advancing through clinical trials, showcasing ... (read more) 

Click the button below to download the complete "Neurovascular Intervention: Trends to Watch in 2026" Market Outlook article by Anne Staylor, SmartTRAK Executive Editor, VP & GM of Neuro Therapies and Tracy Martellotta, Senior Analyst.

SmartTRAK interviews two leaders from the Alliance of Wound Care Stakeholders to discuss its aim to be the unified voice for the wound care community, ensuring quality care for all patients with chronic wounds.

SmartTRAK discusses the ambulatory surgery center (ASC) migration – a multi-billion-dollar redistribution of capital, the mandatory Ambulatory Services Model (ASM) and the companies best positioned to benefit in 2026 and beyond. 

The US Spine Market is navigating a structural shift in the site of service, a regulatory-driven financial squeeze and the arrival of the mandatory Ambulatory Service Model (ASM) in spine care. This value-based model holds specialists financially accountable for the "total cost of care" for Medicare patients with low back pain (LBP). Shifting hospital-based procedures to the ambulatory surgery center (ASC) is one of the most significant opportunities for healthcare savings, and it is especially important in 2026 for procedures such as lumbar fusion and total disc replacements (TDRs). 

This downloadable article highlights the key catalysts SmartTRAK expects to shape the US Spine landscape in 2026 and beyond, including:

•  Landmark Changes in CMS Reimbursement Accelerating Lumbar Procedures to the ASC - The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized the removal of 285 musculoskeletal codes from the Inpatient-Only (IPO) list as part of a three-year phase-out ending in 2028, intended to ... (read more)

• Companies Innovating To Capture ASC Share -  Pure-play spine companies, like ATEC Spine (ATEC), and incumbents are tailoring ASC solutions—offering simplified, modular instrument sets and flexible financing for ... (read more)

SmartTRAK Launches New Software and Service Solutions, Creating a Unified "Smart" Insights Platform for Faster, Smarter Decisions

As the orthopedic industry prepares for the 2026 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), SmartTRAK today announced a major expansion of its "Smart" portfolio of orthopedic market intelligence and advisory solutions. These enhancements are designed to help MedTech leaders move beyond fragmented data and make faster, more confident strategic decisions.

As orthopedic markets grow increasingly complex, success requires more than information. It demands expert interpretation, integrated intelligence and decisive strategy. SmartTRAK continues to combine proprietary data, advanced analytics and deep analyst expertise to power confident growth across MedTech.