A post-pandemic recovery appears to be on the horizon in the CAS Spine space.

Derrick Johns, President and CEO of DiFusion Technologies, discusses the challenges and opportunities associated with developing and commercializing a new biomaterial in an interview with SmartTRAK. 

Nearly every company in Spine (and dare we say all of Orthopedics) is working to find the holy grail of biomaterials for interbody implants and more. DiFusion Technologies’ President and CEO Derrick Johns discusses the challenges and opportunities associated with bringing a novel material to market in an interview with SmartTRAK.

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

Ragna Ouwerkerk, PR Manager at Mediq, discusses the Company and its recent acquisitions in an interview with SmartTRAK.

Mergers and acquisitions have become an attractive business strategy for companies in the wound care space considering to expand into new markets or territories, reach a competitive edge or obtain new technologies. One company looking to strengthen its leadership position in the European wound care market through acquisitions is  Mediq.

Mediq is a Dutch healthcare company founded in 1899 by ninety-one pharmacists as a type of buying group to check the quality of raw materials and medicines. In 2021, Mediq provides pharmaceuticals and medical devices to patients and healthcare facilities globally. Recently, the Company decided to take a major step forward and has had a flurry of acquisitions in the last few months of which some strengthened the presence of the company in some European countries and another helped to enter the UK market.

SmartTRAK: The Company has recently acquired Medirum AB in Sweden, Puls AS in Norway, H&R Healthcare Ltd in the UK, GD Medical AG in Switzerland and Replant 4 Care in Hungary. Mediq also intends to acquire Eurocept Homecare and Da Vinci Kliniek in the Netherlands. What was your thinking behind those acquisitions?

While US SCS revenues were almost back to pre-COVID levels in Q320, rising COVID case rates put the brakes on procedure growth by the end of Q420 and the US and WW SCS markets ended down -15%+ in FY20 compared to FY19.

Although spinal cord stimulation (SCS) revenues were almost back to pre-COVID levels in Q320, by the end of Q420, rising COVID case rates in certain geographies put the brakes on procedure growth, resulting in a low-single-digit (LSD) decrease in YoY revenues in both the US and WW in Q420. For the full year (FY), US SCS were down -15.1%, with revenues, according to SmartTRAK SCS Financial Dashboard, totaling ...

Among the many topics covered in the comprehensive Q420/FY20 Spinal Cord Stimulation Market Recap * are:

Despite a spike in COVID cases, Soft Tissue Fixation was resilient and managed to ride out the COVID storm in Q420

While Q4 brought another surge of COVID cases worldwide, Soft Tissue Fixation was able to weather the storm with more resilience, resulting in YoY revenue declines but sequential revenue volume improvement over Q3.

Q4 saw an increase from the previous quarter and saw numbers that closely matched the same period in 2019. According to SmartTRAK Financial Dashboard, worldwide in Q4, the Soft Tissue Fixation market was down -1.7% YoY. At the regional level, US Soft Tissue Fixation ended Q4 near even from the previous year, down -0.2%. The EU and ROW finished Q4 with declines of -2.9% and -2.8% YoY respectively.

Among the many topics covered in the comprehensive Q420/FY20 Soft Tissue Fixation Market Recap* are:

In an interview with SmartTRAK, Keith Boettiger, VP of Abbott Neuromodulation, discusses the Company’s new NeuroSphere Virtual Clinic, a potentially game-changing technology that enables physicians to remotely program stim settings for patients with DBS, SCS and DRG devices in real-time.

On March 8, 2021, Abbott announced the US launch and FDA approval of the NeuroSphere Virtual Clinic, a first-of-its-kind remote neuromodulation patient-care technology that allows patients to receive new treatment settings from their physicians in real-time and remotely via cloud and Bluetooth-based technology. Using the patient controller app, a new remote programming feature, the clinician programming app and a new secure remote connection, physicians can communicate with patients and remotely optimize and digitally prescribe new stimulation settings for patients who are implanted with a deep brain stimulator, spinal cord stimulator or a dorsal root ganglion stimulator.

Keith Boettiger, VP of Abbott Neuromodulation, discusses remote programming using the NeuroSphere Virtual Clinic and what it means for physicians, patients and the market for neuromodulation devices in an interview with SmartTRAK. To listen to the interview, recorded recently via Uberconference, click on the following video (24:09 minutes). A link to download the transcript of the interview is also provided below.

Healthy growth closes out Q420 as the trauma segment recovers in the second half of the year hitting pre-COVID levels.

Despite the rise in COVID cases during Q4, the Trauma Market fared well resulting in positive YoY revenue gains that represented healthy, pre-COVID level volumes. Trauma players cited another quarter of healthy trauma growth, as the second half of the year ended on an upswing (+5.6% vs. H219). Top US market leaders, DePuy Synthes (49.4% Q420 US share), Stryker (27.3%) and Smith & Nephew (9.8%) all reported improved sequential gains.

Among the many topics covered in the comprehensive Q420/FY20 Trauma Market Recap* are:

Surge in COVID-19 Wipes Out Some Procedural Recovery

The surge of COVID-19 cases in Q420 likely brought on by holiday gatherings threatened to wash away the beginning of elective procedure recovery in Q3. In some regions of the US, healthcare facilities once again found themselves underwater as they struggled to care for COVID patients. OUS, Britain and other countries continued to face shutdowns and delay of non-urgent procedures.

Among the many topics covered in the comprehensive Q420/FY20 Total Joints Market Recap* are:

In the fast pace world of MedTech, the best industry players always look to evolve, create and innovate. Usually, the responsibility comes down to R&D, Marketing and Business Development to know the landscape and spot the opportunities.

Having worked with many successful Research and Development teams over the years we set out to uncover:

• What sets successful teams apart from those that are less successful?
• Is great data a differentiator?
• What can teams do to put themselves on track to greater success?

Learning from our subscribers and also from our Analysts with backgrounds in R&D, we put together SmartTRAK’s Top 3 Tips for Better Product Development Success. We're excited to share our learnings with you!

Just click the image below to download a PDF of SmartTRAK’s Top 3 Tips for Better Research & Development Success.

As the Covid-19 pandemic continues its unprecedented impact on economies around the world, the MedTech industry presses on with product innovation and plans for the future. SmartTRAK reports daily on the challenges still ahead, covering all aspects of the OrthoBio market.

The following is just a small sampling of recent OrthoBio 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.

As part of SmartTRAK's R&D appreciation month, Research & Development professionals can now sign up for a Complimentary Month of Daily Updates delivered straight to your inbox. Just let us show you SmartTRAK and we'll give you a month of Daily Updates, delivered to your inbox, for FREE!