SmartTRAK outlines consequences COVID-19 is expected to have on the European Trauma & Extremities Market

Twenty-five years of orthopedic business planning has taught me to monitor certain non-business factors when setting goals. Trends in weather patterns, age demographics, lifestyle and activities can have a direct influence on market growth. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted the European market with the shutdown of various countries and the ensuing changes in lifestyle such as reduced travel, work and sporting activities. In 2020, SmartTRAK predicted the European Trauma market fell by around 25% with extremities at nearly -50% in the midst of COVID-19 lockdowns. Similar market pressures are also expected during 2021.

Anticipated growth for Q4 was weakened by a resurgence of COVID-19 and was not enough to sustain growth with FY20 ending at -3.3% YoY decline.

For FY20, according SmartTRAK Financial Dashboard, the US Infection Prevention - Vascular Access (VA) Adjunct Products market was down -3.3% YoY, while Q420 revenue was up  +1.2% YoY.

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 the comprehensive Q420/FY20 Infection Prevention: US Vascular Access Adjunct Market* are:

Despite market challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 was a game-changing year for enabling technology for orthopedic surgery with robotics hitting an inflection point in acceptance, with record placements in Q420, and enabling technology across the entire continuum of care making significant inroads.

In Q420, MAKO* robot demand drove much of the 12.3% growth in Stryker’s* US Ortho Other segment. In 2020, MAKO’s installed base grew by 33%, and in Q420 hit a milestone of > 100 system installations at major teaching institutions, ASCs and in competitive accounts in the quarter. In fact, according to the Company, MAKO is now available in ~50% of fellowship programs at teaching institutions in US, as well as some in Europe, which will help the transition to standard of care. Stryker noted that new market entrants (Zimmer Biomet’s* ROSA*, Smith & Nephew’s* CORI* and DePuy Synthes’* VELYS*) have not slowed MAKO momentum.

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

COVID-19 threw a curveball to spine and orthopedic implant companies in 2020 with the downturn in elective procedures, but one area that continued to make inroads was enabling technologies. Given increasing advances and expanding adoption of these technologies, even during uncertain times, SmartTRAK highlights some significant trends to watch in 2021, including:

1. Flexible Business Models
Companies with robots (Stryker*, MAKO*, Zimmer Biomet*, ROSA*, Smith & Nephew*, NAVIO*/CORI*, Medtronic*, Mazor X*, Globus*, Excelsius GPS) continued to grow at above-market growth in 2020. Record-breaking robotic and navigation system placements in Q3 and Q420 bode well for ...

An initially promising Q4 faltered under the weight of the COVID-19 resurgence, leading to a Q420 WW Spine Hardware Market decline of -1.0%. 

The continued rebound that everyone had been hoping for was dampened by the COVID-19 resurgence in Q420. While the quarter got off to a promising start, COVID headwinds picked up negatively impacting Spine procedure volumes due to challenges with hospital resource utilization and renewed restrictions around elective procedures. For example, NuVasive* management noted that the Company entered Q4 with relatively stable case volumes but experienced market disruption from the resurgence of COVID-19 at the exit of the quarter, most notably in parts of the US and Europe.

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

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: