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SmartTRAK Life Sciences News and Analysis Blog

2 min read

Musculoskeletal New Ventures Conference 2025

By Erin Dorgan on 12/30/25 9:30 AM

The Musculoskeletal New Ventures Conference meeting offers a glimpse into emerging and promising technologies that are shaping the US Spinal Hardware Market.

The Musculoskeletal New Ventures Conference (MNVC) took place on November 4-5, 2025, in Memphis, TN. This annual conference highlights new and emerging technologies focused on the orthopedics space, and this year alone had over 45 companies present. In this article, SmartTRAK highlights four spine-focused companies with novel technologies that will impact the broader US Spinal Hardware Market, which is projected to grow at a 5-year CAGR of +4.0% by 2029E, according to SmartTRAK estimates.  

The companies covered in this article are:

  • ZygoFix
    Since its presentation at MNVC last year, ZygoFix has begun surgeries in the US and currently has five surgeons incorporating the zLock into their practices. The company plans to expand access in ... (read more)

  • Nanohive
    Nanohive is focused on providing patient-specific interbody implants built on its proprietary soft titanium lattice platform, which has a lower modulus of elasticity than other titanium metals and is closer to ... (read more)
  • Lenoss Medical
    Lenoss Medical offers a novel biological allograft implant, Osteopearl, for the VCF market, which eliminates the need for ... (read more)

  • Synergy Spine Solutions
    Synergy Spine Solutions is currently participating in FDA clinical trials to bring its Synergy disc to the US market. This unique disc preserves motion and actively corrects alignment in the cervical spine due to ... (read more)

According to SmartTRAK Product Explorer, there are over 219 companies and approximately 1,150 products competing for market share in the US Spinal Hardware Market today. The MNVC meeting provided a glimpse into new and promising technologies for the US Spinal Hardware Market.

To learn more about MNVC 2025 and the companies presenting, click the button below to download the complete article by Erin Dorgan, SmartTRAK Sr Analyst, Spine & Bone Replacement.Get the Article

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3 min read

Streamlining Hip Preservation: The Evolution of Labral Reconstruction and the AceConnex Solution

By David Shepard on 12/23/25 9:30 AM

This SmartTRAK interview features a panel of experts discussing the clinical shift in hip preservation toward pre-sutured, "off-the-shelf" allograft solutions.

In this interview, SmartTRAK hosts a distinguished panel featuring Andrew Jimenez, MD (Yale School of Medicine), Winston Gwathmey, MD (University of Virginia), and Kevin Whitten (chief commercial officer, AlloSource) to discuss the clinical realities of modern hip preservation. The conversation highlights the shift from time-consuming autograft preparations to innovative "off-the-shelf" allograft solutions. Specifically, the panel explores the operational and clinical advantages of AceConnex, a pre-prepared fascia lata allograft designed to reduce intra-op time and standardize outcomes in labral reconstruction procedures. Click on the following video to learn more (17:44 min). A link to download a complete transcript of the interview is also provided below.

 

SmartTRAK: Hi, this is David Shepard with SmartTRAK. It's my pleasure to be joined by Dr. Andrew Jimenez, the assistant professor of orthopedics and rehabilitation at Yale School of Medicine, and Dr. Winston Gwathmey, professor of orthopedic surgery at UVA. We're also joined by Kevin Whitten, chief commercial officer at AlloSource, and tonight we're going to be talking about AceConnex.

Thank you very much for joining us, gentlemen. And feel free to jump in at any time, so whoever wants to start with these questions, and again, feel free to interject and jump in. But the first thing I wanted to do is try to get a sense of exactly what type of clinical procedure we're doing here, or what's the issue that occurs with these patients, where AceConnex comes in and is an excellent solution for these patients.

Dr. Winston Gwathmey: I can get started. Hip arthroscopy is a procedure that addresses injuries of the hip that are soft tissue injuries, labral injuries, femoroacetabular impingement. And we've seen a proliferation of this procedure in the past 20 years or so. And with that, we're learning a lot more and more about how the hip functions. And what we're seeing in 2025 is that sometimes the labrum, the soft tissue gasket ring that fits around the hip joint, is not in a situation that can be repaired or salvaged. And so luckily, we've learned a procedure called a labral reconstruction in which we replace part or all of the labrum with the cadaver graft. And what that does is it provides a lot of labral functions and anatomy in a situation where the labrum is deficient or not repairable.

Dr. Andrew Jimenez: And just to piggyback off that, there's been a real evolution in terms of labral treatment and management. Early days of hip arthroscopy, starting off with just labral debridement and labral excision. As our techniques and our implants became better, we moved onto doing labral repair. And what we invariably came up with was ...

Want to learn more about the shift from time-consuming autograft preparations to innovative "off-the-shelf" allograft solutions? Click the button below to download and read the complete transcript of our roundtable discussion, conducted by David Shepard, SmartTRAK GM/Sr Analyst, Orthobio & Regen.Get the Transcript

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3 min read

Automating Cartilage Repair and the Road to Commercialization: Octane Biotherapeutics

By David Shepard on 12/16/25 9:30 AM

The high costs and complexity involved in manual manufacturing hinder the commercial viability of regenerative cell therapies. Octane Biotherapeutics seeks to remove these barriers by integrating its automated "Cocoon" production system with the well-established Novocart 3D and Novocart Inject platforms. SmartTRAK interviews Dr. Robert Spiro, CEO of Octane Biotherapeutics, to explore the company's strategic acquisition of assets from Aesculap Biologics and TETEC AG, and their plan to make a significant entry into the US Cartilage Repair Market. 

Click on the following video to learn more (09:37 min). A link to download a complete transcript of the interview is also provided below.

 

SmartTRAK: Hi, this is David Shepard with SmartTRAK, and I'm here with Dr. Robert Spiro, the CEO of Octane Biotherapeutics. Thank you for taking the time, really appreciate it.

Robert Spiro: Good to see you, Dave. Thank you.

Yes, good to see you as well. Tell me a little bit about Octane and the acquisition of Novocart 3D and Novocart Inject by Octane.

RS: Sure. It's a journey. It really started about 2010, '11, when I first started with Aesculap Biologics in this space. And having been in the cartilage regenerative space through several companies, really knowing that the scale-up of any type of manual culture, cell culture system was a big challenge from a commercial standpoint. We have always been looking for ways to automate this process. We started some on our own, but I encountered this technology with Octane, which was back in 2011—started that collaboration to transfer our manual autologous chondrocyte culture process to an automated system. They had already really started on this Cocoon technology, but we started to marry it to the Novocart program that long ago.

The relationship was there, all along, with the divestiture away from B. Braun Aesculap as they restructured all of their portfolio. It was really a natural progression for Octane to step in and acquire the company, not only Aesculap Biologics, but our sister company in Germany, TETEC AG, that developed the same technology. Octane Biotherapeutics is fully global, both German as well as US. And so, the Cocoon technology is an important step for us to commercialize both Novocart 3D and Novocart Inject for a number of reasons, and anyone in the cell culture space understands that scale up, scale out of those kind of manual process is expensive. It's one of the things that drives the cost of these products so high. So, it's been a great collaboration, and the fact that they stepped in through the acquisition just made a lot of sense for everybody.

RS: The hallmark of this is why it's really ideal for autologous cells. It's this ...

Want to learn more about how integrating the automated "Cocoon" cell production system with Novocart 3D and Novocart Inject platforms will disrupt the complexity and costs of the US Cartilage Repair Market? Click the button below to download and read the complete transcript of our interview with Dr. Robert Spiro, CEO of Octane Biotherapeutics, conducted by David Shepard, SmartTRAK GM/Sr Analyst, Orthobio & Regen.Get the Transcript

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3 min read

Deep Dive into Foot & Ankle: Lance Silverman, MD, on Practice, Technology and the Path Forward

By Natasha Weeks on 12/9/25 9:30 AM

Dr. Silverman discusses key takeaways from the AOFAS meeting, along with insights into his practice's shift to ASC settings and the major hurdles of fair reimbursement and staff recruitment.

Lance Silverman, MD, an orthopedic surgeon and foot and ankle specialist at Resurgens Orthopaedics in Roswell, GA, discusses trends and technologies in the Foot & Ankle Market in an interview with SmartTRAK.

Dr. Silverman discusses key takeaways from the recent American Orthopedic Foot & Ankle Society (AOFAS) Annual Meeting 2025, including the critical focus on avoiding revisions in total ankle replacements. He also addresses the role of technology, such as artificial intelligence (AI) surgical planning tools and the instrumentation and jigs used in foot and ankle procedures. Dr. Silverman provides insights into the current landscape of his practice, including his most common procedures, his shift to ambulatory surgery center (ASC) settings, and the benefits and biggest challenges he faces—such as securing fair reimbursement and the struggle to recruit and retain talented team members amid rising living costs and salary expectations.

To listen to the interview, click on the following video (17:46 min). A link to download a complete transcript of the interview is also provided below.


Interview

SmartTRAK: Hi, this is Natasha Weeks General Manager of Trauma and Extremities for SmartTRAK, and I'm here with Dr. Lance Silverman. We're going to take a deep dive into the foot and ankle segment. Dr. Silverman, thanks for being here and talking with me. And it was great to meet you at AOFAS in Savannah last month.

Dr. Lance Silverman: Nice to meet you there too, Natasha. It's a pleasure reconnecting.

Great. So reflecting on AOFAS and the meeting, for you, what was the most impactful message, whether that was clinical discussions you had, any specific posters or symposium talks or even products that you saw displayed? What did you believe coming off of that conference would really be most influential in the surgical management of foot and ankle?

LS: Well, there were a lot of conversations that people had both in lectures and outside of lectures on total ankle replacement. And total ankle replacement has been a growing increasingly performed procedure. And we have now started to see...

Want to learn more about the trends and technologies in the Foot & Ankle Market? Click the button below to download and read the complete transcript of our interview with Lance Silverman, MD, conducted by Natasha Weeks, Managing Editor/Sr. Analyst Trauma & Extremities.Get the Transcript

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3 min read

Impact of the OPPS Reimbursement Rules on the US Advanced Wound Care Market

By Kris Flinn on 11/26/25 2:22 PM

Wound GM Kris Flinn and Senior Analysts Elizabeth Anderson and Jay Merkel discuss the impact of the final OPPS rules on the US Advanced Wound Care Market.

Wound GM Kris Flinn and Senior Analysts Elizabeth Anderson and Jay Merkel discuss the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) final rules on Outpatient Prospective Payment System reimbursement, and the potential impact on the US Advanced Wound Care Market.

To listen to the interview, click on the following video (21:35 min). A link to download the complete transcript of the discussion is also provided below.  

Topics: Wound Care
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3 min read

Cartilage Repair and Regeneration: Innovative Use of Hydrogel

By David Shepard on 11/25/25 9:30 AM

Leo Smit, CEO of Hy2Care, discusses the company's innovative hydrogel platform for articular cartilage repair in an interview with SmartTRAK at ICRS World Congress 2025.

In this interview with SmartTRAK, Hy2Care CEO Leo Smit discusses the company's innovative technology. Hy2Care, a Dutch spin-off from the University of Twente, is developing a new hydrogel platform to address focal cartilage defects. Smit explains their "joint-mimicking" hydrogel, which is applied arthroscopically as a liquid, enzymatically cross-links in place within one minute, and bonds strongly to surrounding tissue. The product could represent a new generation of acellular, off-the-shelf scaffolds that aim to close this gap by offering a simpler procedure that regenerates high-quality, durable tissue.

To find out more about the Hy2Care procedure and what makes it so revolutionary, click on the following video (12:43 min). A link to download a complete transcript of the interview is also provided below.

 

SmartTRAK: Hi, this is David Shepard with SmartTRAK. And I'm here with Leo Smit, the CEO for Hy2Care. Thank you for taking the time.

Leo Smit: Pleasure.

Excellent. So, if you could, tell me a little bit about your technology and your interest in getting into the cartilage space.

LS: Sure.  Well, first, maybe a little bit about Hy2Care, we are a Dutch spin-off from the University of Twente. The group of Professor Marcel Karperien, he is a decades-old, experienced professor in the field of osteoarthritis and cartilage research. He came up together with a bunch of his co-workers with a new technology to repair cartilage. And that's a really unique technique. It's a hydrogel platform. It's a platform that is based on what we call joint mimicking composition, joint mimicking polymers. We use dextran and hyaluronic acid in a somewhat modified way and then make them... Allow them to be cross-linked during the surgery.

So, what we do is we take...

Want to learn more about Hy2Care and its unique hydrogel platform that addresses focal cartilage defects? Click the button below to download and read the complete transcript of our interview with Leo Smit, CEO of Hy2Care, conducted by David Shepard, SmartTRAK GM/Sr Analyst, Orthobio & Regen.Get the Transcript

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3 min read

OSET 2025: Spotlight on Conmed and BioBrace

By Andy Knapik on 11/13/25 6:06 PM

Conmed’s Lisa Donnelly, VP of Marketing for US Orthopedics, and Jeff Ott, Director of R&D, discuss their BioBrace technology in an interview with SmartTRAK at OSET 2025 in Las Vegas. 

Conmed’s Lisa Donnelly, VP of Marketing for US Orthopedics, and Jeff Ott, Director of R&D, sat down with SmartTRAK at the Orthopaedic Summit (OSET) 2025 Annual Meeting in Las Vegas (September 18–25, 2025) to discuss BioBrace and how its bioinductive technology sets it apart from the competition.

To find out more about Conmed and BioBrace, click on the following video (16:30 min). A link to download a complete transcript of the interview is also provided below. 

 

Hey everybody, it's Andy Knapik with SmartTRAK, here at Ortho Summit in Las Vegas, and I'm happy to be here at the ConMed booth, and joined by a good friend of mine, Lisa Donnelly, who's VP of Marketing for US Ortho for ConMed, and then also Jeff Ott, who is a director of R&D. Why don't you just start by talking to us about how you started with the company? I'm just going to let you go with the intro part.

Jeff Ott: 
Yes, happy to do that. I joined a small company called Biorez about six or seven years ago as a small startup. We were focused on trying to find ways to help with tendon and ligament healing, and we developed a product called the BioBrace, which now is a part of ConMed.

So, when was that acquired? That was about a year…

Lisa Donnelly: 
August of 2022.

Okay. So a few years now. Wow. It's flown.

JO: 
Yes, time has flown by. So the BioBrace, which we developed, we designed a product that is a bioinductive scaffold with strength. What we did is we created a product that can both reinforce a tendon or ligament repair, and it also can ...

Want to learn more about the BioBrace technology? Click the button below to download and read the complete transcript of our exclusive interview with Conmed’s Lisa Donnelly, VP of Marketing for US Orthopedics, and Jeff Ott, Director of R&D, conducted by  Andy Knapik, SmartTRAK Sr. Analyst, Soft Tissue & Arthroscopic Technologies.Get the Transcript

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3 min read

Impact of Final Physician Fee Schedule on US Skin Substitutes in 2026

By Kris Flinn on 11/7/25 11:22 AM

Wound GM Kris Flinn and Senior Analysts Elizabeth Anderson and Jay Merkel discuss the impact of the final physician fee schedule on US Skin Substitutes in 2026.

SmartTRAK Wound GM Kris Flinn and Senior Analysts Elizabeth Anderson and Jay Merkel discuss the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ ( CMS) policy announced on October 31 on the final Physician Fee Schedule for US Skin Substitutes in 2026 and the overall impact on the market.

To listen to the interview, click on the following video (19:37 min). A link to download the complete transcript of the discussion is also provided below.  
 

 

Transcript:

Kris Flinn: This is Kris Flinn with SmartTRAK. I'm joined today by our senior analysts, Elizabeth Anderson and Jay Merkel. On Friday the 31st of October, CMS published the final physician fee schedule reimbursement rules for 2026. These rules are likely to have a significant impact on the US skin sub market. SmartTRAK values the 2024 skin sub market at just under $8 billion, with the sites of care affected by the physician fee schedule, such as physician office and mobile plus, accounting for over 3/4 of that number. This year's number could be even higher.

Today, during this call, we're going to look to discuss the rules that have been finalized and the impact they could have on the US advanced wound care market. Jay, Elizabeth, thank you for joining me today. Jay, if I could just start with you. Could you please talk about the rules that have been finalized, and particularly the changes from the original proposals?

Jay Merkel: Yeah, I'm just going to share a screen to help me go through all of the steps, but TLDR is that everything that was proposed was essentially adopted. So the first thing that we talk about is ...

To download and read a complete transcript of SmartTRAK's Wound GM Kris Flinn and Senior Analysts Elizabeth Anderson and Jay Merkel discussing the impact that the final physician fee schedule will have on US Skin Substitutes in 2026, just click the button below.Get the Transcript

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2 min read

A Unique Perspective on Orthopedics/Sports Medicine: An Interview with ESPN Writer/Analyst Stephania Bell

By Andy Knapik on 11/6/25 9:00 AM

Stephania Bell, a licensed physical therapist, ESPN senior writer, and renowned sports injury analyst, brings together her clinical expertise and media experience, exploring how sports injuries in professional athletes intersect with those seen in the general population.

In a recent interview with SmartTRAK, Stephania Bell, a licensed physical therapist, ESPN senior writer and renowned sports injury analyst, brings together her clinical expertise and media experience, exploring how sports injuries in professional athletes intersect with those seen in the general population.

Click on the following video to watch the interview (43:14 min). For more details, interview topics by timecode and a link to download a complete transcript of the interview are provided below.

 

Interview Topics By Timecode:

02:00 Stephania’s background.

11:15 Work with Arthrex on the education side.

18:50 Where do med device companies fit in with prevention?

21:51 Patient insistance on being treated like the pros.

29:24 Public perception of sports injuries.

The connection between sports injuries in professionals and those in the broader population offers valuable insight into treatment and recovery trends. Click the button below to download and read the complete transcript of our interview with Stephania Bell, ESPN senior writer and renowned sports injury analyst, conducted by  Andy Knapik, SmartTRAK Sr. Analyst, Soft Tissue & Arthroscopic Technologies.Get the Transcript

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3 min read

Decoding the Future of Cartilage: Biologics, AI and the New Standard of Care

By Andy Knapik on 11/4/25 9:30 AM

Incoming ICRS President Dr. Christian Lattermann discusses the future of cartilage repair in an interview with SmartTRAK at the 2025 ICRS Global Congress in Boston. 

In this interview, SmartTRAK speaks with Christian Lattermann, MD, the incoming president of the International Cartilage Regeneration and Joint Preservation Society (ICRS), about the future of joint repair. He shares insights on emerging technologies, highlighting advances in mechanical correction, AI and biologics. Dr. Lattermann explains how AI helps clinicians understand causes of degeneration that were previously overlooked. He emphasizes the excitement surrounding orthobiologics, especially extracellular vesicles, as a novel approach to guiding biological responses. 

To find out more, click on the following video (22:22 min). Interview topics, organized by timecode, and a link to download a complete transcript of the interview are provided below.

 

Interview Outline by Timecode:

00:22 The three pillars of revolution: AI, biology, and mechanics.

06:36 Orthobiologics and extracellular vesicles: From "voodoo" to validated science.

10:25 Rethinking inflammation: fixing the "leak."

13:53 The collaborative alliance: industry, clinicians and researchers. 

16:46: Finding the niche: comparing the roles of MACI, Agili-C, and other technologies.

21:29: Conclusion: the future of individualized patient care.

Curious about the future of cartilage repairClick the button below to download and read the complete transcript of our interview with the incoming ICRS president, Dr. Christian Lattermann, conducted by  Andy Knapik, SmartTRAK Sr. Analyst, Soft Tissue & Arthroscopic Technologies.Get the Transcript

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