A return to positive growth for the quarter, but gains lag behind pre-COVID-19 levels.

The prevention of Hospital-Acquired Infections (HAIs) continues to drive measures and practices to reduce Central Line-Associated Bloodstream Infections (CLABSIs) and is creating demand for products that can address these issues. Numerous programs and educational tools are being developed to provide measures and strategies that assist healthcare providers in the prevention and reduction of infection in acute care and other settings.

Among the many topics covered in detail in our comprehensive Q121 US Infection Prevention - Vascular Access (VA) Adjunct Products Market Recap* are:

Advanced Wound Care begins to stabilize as in-person visits increase and elective procedures rebound.

For Q121, according to BioMedGPS’ SmartTRAK Financial Dashboard, WW Advanced Wound Care (AWC) revenue for Advanced Dressings, External Devices and Biologics was up +6.2%, boosted by a strong performance in Biologics, with 3M maintaining the number one position in the AWC space.

Among the many topics covered in detail in our comprehensive Q121 AWC Market Recap* are:

As the COVID-19 workplace restrictions ease up, the MedTech industry continues to progress with product innovation and plans for the future. In July, AOSSM and AANA are partnering for a combined annual meeting, the first in-person meeting for both since the start of the pandemic. SmartTRAK reports daily on the challenges still ahead, covering all aspects of the Sports Medicine market.

The following is just a small sampling of recent Sports Medicine related updates from around the world compiled, reviewed and posted in real time by our SmartTRAK analysts. We constantly monitor the worldwide MedTech industry, sifting through the noise to present to our subscribers the most relevant international news, patents, trends, new products, financial data and competitor developments in the global Life Sciences industry.

Patents:

• Zimmer Biomet* 

  Biomet Sports Medicine (ZBH) was issued US Patent “Method and apparatus for forming a self-locking adjustable loop”, describing methods and apparatus for forming a self-locking adjustable loop. 11,039,826

• Cannabinoid for Sports Med Applications
  Precision Biologic’s US Patent Application “METHODS OF USING CANNABINOID COMPOSITIONS IN SPORTS MEDICINE APPLICATIONS” was published. 20210128521

• Stryker*

  Stryker (Ivy Sports Medicine LLC) was issued US Patent “System and method for all-inside suture fixation for implant attachment and soft tissue repair”, describing an all-inside soft tissue repair device. 10,932,769

Despite a resurgence in COVID-19 that impacted procedure volumes early in Q121, the SCS Market’s climb to pre-pandemic levels is well underway.

Although a resurgence in COVID-19 in late 2020 negatively affected procedure volumes early in the quarter, the SCS Market’s climb to pre-pandemic levels has started to gain momentum. For Q121, US SCS revenues were up +13.6% YoY while WW SCS revenues also saw double-digit YoY growth according to SmartTRAK Financial Dashboard.

Among the many topics covered in detail in our comprehensive Q121 SCS Market Recap* are:

Dan Volz, President of Medtronic Neurovascular, discusses what’s next for Medtronic Neurovascular in an interview with SmartTRAK.

As the impact of COVID continues to decrease, things are looking up for the Spine market. 

Q121 heralded what we all hope is the rebound from the COVID-related downturn, driven by healthcare resource prioritization and the postponement of non-emergent surgeries. The WW Spine Hardware achieved robust growth, according to SmartTRAK Financial Dashboard. Although January and February were again impacted by COVID, procedure volumes improved throughout the quarter, with Alphatec* (ATEC), NuVasive* (NUVA) and SeaSpine* (SPNE) all specifically calling out an uptick around the March timeframe.

Procedures using surgical matrices continued their recovery, with breast matrices benefiting more from comparison to the early stages of the pandemic that began last year.

Procedures using surgical matrices resumed their return to pre-COVID levels. The US Surgical Matrices market returned to growth according to BioMedGPS’ SmartTRAK Financial Dashboard. AbbVie continued to lead the Surgical Matrices market while Becton Dickinson (BD), although still leading the US Hernia Matrices market, continued to slide as the hernia market lagged the recovery in breast matrices.

Among the many topics covered in detail in our comprehensive Q121 US Surgical Matrices Market Recap* are:

Inclement weather, strong product performances and the impact of M&A all help to drive another quarter of healthy growth for the Trauma Market.

The Trauma Market experienced the third sequential quarter of increasingly healthy growth as both the WW and US Trauma Markets were up YoY. New product introductions, along with inclement weather in the US and EU drove trauma procedures during the first quarter of 2021.

During the Stryker Q121 earnings call, management noted that their trauma business, which is less elective in nature, benefited from inclement weather in the US and Europe in February. 

Among the many topics covered in detail in our comprehensive Q121 Trauma Market Recap* are:

The first quarter of 2021 sees a resurgence of procedures and new product introductions as M&A activity abounds signaling that the Extremities Market is back on track.

Inclement weather, the return of elective procedures and new product introductions all contributed to growth in the WW Extremities Market, up +5.1% in Q121 and the US market seeing even higher growth. M&A activity continues to impact the Extremities segment as companies expand their portfolios and work to synergize product development and commercial efforts.

In Q420 and into Q121, COVID-19 cases ramped up in the US, impacting US Knee replacement procedures. Several large implant manufacturers reported seeing hip procedures being prioritized over knee replacement cases given their more elective nature. However, revision knee replacements are not always able to be postponed. Craig Della Valle, MD of Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush in Chicago discusses the effects of COVID-19 on revision knee procedures and the changes to care pathways precipitated by the pandemic.

To listen to the interview, recorded live via Zoom, click on the following video. A link to the transcript of the interview is also provided below.