Covid-19 Delta surges shatter dreams of strong Q321 market recovery

Surges in COVID-19 Delta cases shattered any dreams of a strong Q321 Total Joints market recovery. Postponement of elective procedures in various areas of the US again negatively impacted Companies pushing out hopes for a return to normal into 2022. In addition to procedure recovery challenges, China’s Volume-Based Procurement program that aims to reduce implant pricing may headwind to the WW Total Joints market in the coming year.

Among the many topics covered in detail in our comprehensive Q321 Total Joints Market Recap* are:

• Complete Q321 Total Joints Market Overview and Highlights
• SmartTRAK's Expert Analysis and Insights
• Total Joints News including Revenues, Data, Charts and Shares
• US Market Growth Comparison Q321 vs Q319
• New Products Hitting the Stage
• Q321 Regulatory Highlights 

What seems to be on everyone’s mind – COVID-19 recovery and ASC trends

The COVID-19 pandemic reduced the attendance at the 2021 American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeon (AAOS) annual meeting to an estimated 1/5 ^th of its usual number. Many international surgeons found themselves under travel restrictions while some US surgeons were asked by their institutions to forego the meeting. The pandemic also impacted the conversations taking place on the convention floor with two topics seeming to be top of mind – the recovery from COVID-19 and the ongoing move of joint replacement procedures to the outpatient setting.

At AAOS 2021, SmartTRAK spoke with clinicians and industry executives to obtain their view regarding the pandemic and recovery from COVID-19. Although speculation varied depending on individual circumstances,  some companies and healthcare institutions shared that supply chain issues are holding back the increase in business while others are facing regional shutdowns of elective procedures due to the surge of the Delta variant.

We are pleased to announce that Ray Luzi has joined the team at SmartTRAK as Vice President of Customer Success. Ray has 25+ years' experience in guiding customer engagement and success with leadership roles at Broadridge as Senior Director of Client Relations and DST OUTPUT Limited.

Meet Ray Luzi:

What is your role with SmartTRAK? I will be joining the team as Vice of President of Customer Success.

What is something special or unique that you bring to SmartTRAK subscribers? My background has been in account management in customer communications. I have built strong relationships with my customers based on transparency and the ability to deliver solutions. I have been extremely fortunate to work with talented individuals who are passionate about servicing our customers.   I look to continue to foster that approach with SmartTRAK.

Clinical and industry attendees return to in-person conferences but product launches were limited.

It has been more than two years since the last in-person Society for Advancement of Wound Care (SAWC) meeting and based on attendance at this year’s meeting in Las Vegas (October 29-31), wound care clinicians and exhibitors were ready to be live and in person again.

SmartTRAK returned to the conference in person too and walked the exhibit floor, attended symposia and talked to exhibitors and clinicians to understand the latest trends in the US market for Advanced Wound Care, which is projected to reach
* by 2025E according to SmartTRAK estimates. Two dominant takeaways emerged from SAWC Fall 2021, including the enthusiastic return of in-person wound conferences and only a limited selection of new product introductions.

We are pleased to announce that Shelly Caruso has joined the team at SmartTRAK as a Market Analyst/Medical writer. Shelly has 8+ years in clinical healthcare, 4+ years neurosurgical and orthopedic intraoperative nursing working with medical devices at trauma centers and outpatient facilities, including cranial, spine, sports med, total joint and extremity. Shelly has a BA in economics and BSN in nursing and is a certified editor and member of The American Copy Editors Society.

Silicon Valley-based Panther Orthopedics provides nitinol superelastic fixation devices for the orthopedic trauma and sports medicine markets

Panther Orthopedics is an orthopedic medical technology company focused on developing superelastic fixation devices for trauma and sports medicine applications. The company’s first product, the PUMA system, is the only FDA-cleared superelastic fixation device and is indicated for syndesmosis fixation, hallux valgus reconstruction, and tarsometatarsal fixation. The PUMA System is the first and only FDA cleared superelastic fixation device that maintains continuous compression without creep.

We are pleased to announce that Amy Johannson has joined the team at SmartTRAK as QC Manager. Amy has broad B2B industry experience leading teams in driving quality results across complex projects including previous roles at AutoWeb and Kelley Blue Book.

Meet Amy Johannson:

What is your role with SmartTRAK? I was just brought on board full time as the QC Manager. Prior to this I was a QC Auditor helping to bring consistency to all our Company and product profiles.

What do you like about SmartTRAK? SmartTRAK is one of the most collaborative and supportive environments I’ve ever worked in. Ideas are heard and thoughtfully considered. The level of detail that goes into these profiles is tremendous and it shows the dedication the staff has to their work.

Enabling tech continued to assist above-market growth in Q221 with continued demand for spine robotics and navigation systems. New developments in augmented reality, artificial intelligence and smart instruments continue to push the envelope in the spine space.

The WW Spine CAS market, the US Spine Robotics market and the US Spine Navigation market were all up significantly in Q221 according to SmartTRAK Financial Dashboard. Medtronic* (MDT) remained the market leader with > 50% share, followed by Globus* (GMED) and other enabling tech competitors including Brainlab*, DePuy Synthes* (JNJ) and Stryker* (SYK). For detailed Q221 revenues and shares by company in the US, EU and ROW, see the SmartTRAK CAS Spine Financial Dashboard*. 

Among the many topics, including company revenues, market shares, charts and expert analysis, covered in the comprehensive Q221 CAS Spine Market Recap* are:

Philip Procter, CEO of GPBio & Co-founder of Biomimetic Innovations, shares the OsStic journey of discovery and its path to commercialization in an interview with SmartTRAK

Philip Procter started on a quest several decades ago to solve trauma hardware failure in patients through the development of an adhesive solution. The journey began in earnest after a UK meeting with craniomaxillofacial surgeons facing difficult problems they felt could only be solved with an adhesive technology in combination with implants. Procter was convinced early on that the adhesive solution would have to come from nature studying everything from gecko-based technology to sticky frogs in Australia to Mytilus edulis (common mussel) food protein. But it was after demonstrating the potential of a prototype glue in Sweden in 2014 that his journey led him to become a faculty member of the University of Uppsala, Sweden, and he and his partner Dr Gerard Insley working together with Professor Håkan Engqvist and a team of students developed the technology that is known today as OsStic^: a technology with the potential to join implant to bone, bone to bone, soft tissue to bone, and soft tissue to soft tissue.

GPBio and PBC Biomed, both Irish-based companies, joined forces in 2020 to develop and commercialize the OsStic bone adhesive technology through the formation of a new company, Biomimetic Innovations Ltd. Company CEO Philip Procter shared more about the OsStic technology, how it came about and next steps for bringing the product to market in an interview with SmartTRAK’s Lisa Mahan. To find out more about the Company and its operation, click on the following video to listen to the interview, recorded via Uberconference. (17:49 min) A link to download a complete transcript of the interview is also provided below.

Robotics continued to help fuel growth in orthopedics in Q221 as new products and companies heat up the market and enabling technologies gain momentum across TJR.

Once again, robotics contributed to revenue growth in the orthopedics market in Q221 and competition continues to heat up with several regulatory clearances and other developments from new market entrants in the quarter. Aside from robotics, enabling technology including intra-operative augmented reality, preoperative planning and navigation reached a number of milestones in Q221 across all indications in total joint replacement.

Among the many topics, including company revenues, market shares, charts and expert analysis, covered in the comprehensive Q221 CAS Ortho Market Recap* are: