Emerging from the COVID-19 era, wound care innovation is driven by smaller companies

In April, the Symposium on Advanced Wound Care (SAWC) Spring 2022 returned to an in-person format for the first time since 2019. Though the turnout was below expectations, attendees enjoyed reconnecting with clinicians, engaging with vendors and catching up with colleagues and competitors.

Despite being three years since the last SAWC Spring, large wound care companies like Smith+Nephew* (SNN), Mölnlycke*, 3M* and others were oddly without major product introductions. SmartTRAK has learned that extended FDA review timelines and supply challenges may be playing a significant role in this reality. Companies have publicly commented that innovation and new product launches are planned for 2022, but timelines must have slipped past the SAWC Spring deadlines.

Regardless, innovation was not completely absent from SAWC Spring as smaller companies introduced new products and more companies exhibited IT-driven diagnostic, measurement and data-capture technologies.

(The SmartTRAK team will be attending the upcoming European Wound Management Association (EWMA) event May 23-25 in Paris. We would love to schedule some time to meet and hear your perspectives and views and discuss how SmartTRAK can help you make more informed strategic business decisions.)

In this article, SmartTRAK highlights new products and novel technologies exhibited at SAWC Spring 2022.

Increased wound prevalence meets new software and solutions at WCT 2022.

There was a positive energy in the room at the 5^th Wound Care Today (WCT) conference as industry and clinicians came together in Milton Keynes. COVID-19 infection rates remain high in the UK but this is not being reflected in hospitalizations or deaths, leading to a national determination to move forward without restrictions. The pandemic has, however, shaped the priorities of those present and in a range of discussions. SmartTRAK encountered a commercial eagerness to make up for lost time and a looming burden of chronic wounds.

The SmartTRAK team will be attending the upcoming European Wound Management Association (EWMA) event May 23-25 in Paris. We would love to schedule some time to meet and hear your perspectives and views and discuss how SmartTRAK can help you make more informed strategic business decisions.

From economics to the ASC shift, SmartTRAK looks at the trends affecting the Total Joints Market

The start of the new year did not play out as so many of us had hoped. Heading into 2022, the next COVID surge reared its ugly head with the Omicron variant storming through countries around the globe. Healthcare facilities once again postponed elective procedures due to capacity issues and/or staff or patients being diagnosed with COVID. Overall inflation rose to a level that hasn’t been seen since the early 1980s. Looking ahead, is there a silver lining in this dark cloud? SmartTRAK believes the forecast is not all doom and gloom. Let’s look at some of the trends affecting the climate of the Total Joints market.

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From the impact of stringent regulations to the shift toward new indications and rising market segments, SmartTRAK explores some of the trends to watch for in 2022 and beyond.

Orthopedic regenerative medicine therapy as an emerging area of science holds great promise for treating and promoting faster healing in a variety of injuries. There is also a belief among some scientists and industry stakeholders that it may hold the key to halting or reversing degenerative chronic conditions through self-healing. In a previous article, SmartTRAK had highlighted several challenges that Regenerative Medicine therapies would need to overcome to become a fully viable business and recognized treatment solution for patients. In 2021, businesses, societies and health care systems across the world continued to experience disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic and its subsequent waves of variants. Furthermore, much greater scrutiny and tougher regulations for some of the injectable regenerative medicine therapies were put into place. The start of 2022 is also not quite as “rosy” as most had hoped for ...

In an interview with SmartTRAK, University of Arizona professor Dr. Philipp Gutruf discusses research on a new class of bioelectronics he calls osseosurface electronics and its application in the orthopedic field. Dr. Gutruf is an Assistant Professor in the Biomedical Engineering Department at the University of Arizona and his research group focuses on creating devices that integrate with biological systems by combining innovations in soft materials, photonics and electronics to create systems with broad impact on health diagnostics, therapeutics and exploratory neuroscience. 

To find out more, including the design of this new class of bioelectronics and how Dr. Gutruf believes osseosurface electronics will serve as a diagnostic tool after recovery from surgery, click on the following video to listen to the full interview (11:26 min). A link to the complete transcript of the interview is also provided below.

Jason Winkler, Sales VP of cybersecurity startup Device Authority, discusses the state of cybersecurity in healthcare in an interview with SmartTRAK.

In an interview with SmartTRAK, Device Authority VP of Sales (Americas) Jason Winkler discusses the state of cybersecurity in healthcare and medical devices.

To find out more, including the devices most vulnerable to cybersecurity threats and how medical device manufacturers should think about designing cybersecurity measures into their connected products, click on the following video to listen to the full interview (17:29 min). A link to download the complete transcript of the interview is also provided below.

Erez Lampert, CEO and Founder of Israeli start-up Pathkeeper Surgical, discusses the Company’s real-time spinal navigation system that’s generating high interest from ASCs in an interview with SmartTRAK 

In an interview with SmartTRAK, Pathkeeper Surgical CEO and Founder Erez Lampert discusses Pathkeeper’s mobile, light-weight spinal navigation system. 

To find out more, including the timeline for FDA approval and demand from surgeons, hospitals and ASCs, click on the following video to listen to the full interview (22:29 min). A link to download the complete transcript of the interview is also provided below.

Macroeconomic headwinds are projected to continue through the first half of 2022.

Supply chain headaches and inflationary pressures significantly impacted wound care companies in 2021. Though Advanced Wound Care revenue rebounded +11.5% in 2021 according to SmartTRAK’s Financial Dashboard, it was not without strong headwinds of higher input costs, logistical nightmares and labor shortages.

To understand how these macroeconomic trends affected wound care companies, SmartTRAK reviewed quarterly and fiscal year earnings reports from FY21 to see how various wound care companies reported the company-specific impact. From troubles sourcing materials to higher input costs and the need to raise prices, SmartTRAK uncovered a consistent trend of macroeconomic pressures affecting many global and regional wound care manufacturers.

Wallaby Medical announced it has acquired phenox GmbH, including phenox's femtos GmbH, a German-based neurovascular company, for a total of ~$545MM (EUR 500MM) including milestone payments. SmartTRAK previously reported the possibility of the acquisition deal in early March 2022. Wallaby Medical acquiring phenox GmbH is one of the largest recent cross-border transactions in the medical device industry and will enable the Company to provide a wide range of neurovascular solutions to pts in the US, China, Europe, Japan and other international markets.

For more information about phenox, click to read "phenox Takes Aim at US Market with Novel Stroke Devices", SmartTRAK's interview with James Lago, President and CEO of phenox Inc., in which he discusses the Company's novel mechanical thrombectomy device and flow diverter, and what’s next in terms of bringing these technologies to the US market.

Dr. Mark Figgie, Hospital for Special Surgery, and Nick Deeter, Founder & CEO WishBone Medical discuss their journey to develop a pediatric-specific hip replacement system in an interview with SmartTRAK

Dr. Mark P. Figgie, Chief of Surgical Arthritis Service at Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) in New York City, and Nick Deeter, Founder and CEO of WishBone Medical discuss their collaboration on the development of the first off-the-shelf hip replacement system for pediatric patients in an interview with   SmartTRAK. Dr. Figgie shares how his 30-year experience with complex joint replacements, many in juvenile patients, led to his collaboration with WishBone medical to create a hip system specifically tailored for pediatric and young adult patients.

To find out more, including the indications for a pediatric hip replacement, the global market implications, and the next steps Dr. Figgie and WishBone will be taking to bring this hip system to the market, click on the video below to listen to the recorded interview (17:53 min). A link to download the complete transcript of the interview is also provided below.