As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to develop rapidly, the MedTech industry is already seeing many changes and disruptions. SmartTRAK has collected updates and news from the last few days concerning the spread of COVID-19 and how it is affecting the Life Sciences Industry.

COVID-19 AWCS

• Alliance of Wound Care Stakeholders (AWCS) held an emergency call to discuss hospital wound care clinics being considered non-essential and being asked to close due to COVID-19. Participants included wound clinics, providers and manufactures.
• Medical Directors from Healogics and Restorix, and other wound clinics requested the AWCS publish a one page fact sheet asap stating the importance of wound clinics staying open for challenging pts, as w/o care, the probability of needing emergency care increases significantly.

ACS Issues Decision-Making Guidance on Elective Procedures
With calls to curtail elective surgery, the ACS published guidance on the mgmt of non-emergent operations and suggests surgeons use SLU’s Elective Surgery Acuity Scale to help decide whether procedures should be postponed, performed at an ASC or not postponed.

Tracking COVID-19 via Smart Phones
The US Government is talking w/ tech companies (Facebook, Google, etc) and health experts re how they can use data gleaned from Americans’ phones to map the spread of COVID-19 to predict the next hotspot or decide where to allocate resources. Seattle Times

Improvements in procedure volumes drove strong growth across the spine hardware market.

Improvements in procedure volumes drove positive growth across the spine hardware market, with the WW spine hardware market up for Q419 and FY2019, respectively, according to the SmartTRAK Financial Dashboard. Similarly, Cantor Fitzgerald analysts estimate 2019 global spine market (inclusive of biologics) growth at +2.2%, the highest growth the market has seen in 5 years, with +2.1% US growth and +2.2% growth OUS.

Among the many topics covered in the comprehensive  Q419 Spine Market Recap*  are:

Product Mix Shift and Improved Pricing Strengthens US Total Joints Market

In the US, revenue in the Total Joints market for Q419 achieved much stronger growth compared to Q418, according to SmartTRAK Financial Dashboard. Both Hip and Knee Replacement market segments saw growth acceleration. Keep in mind that this growth does not include revenue generated by the sale of robotic systems and associated disposables. The Total Joints market is typically seasonal with a dip in sales during Q3 with recovery in Q4. However, Q419’s uptick seemed particularly strong benefiting from mix shift in products, including the increasing popularity of cementless knees and dual mobility hips.

Among the many topics covered in the comprehensive Q419 US Total Joints Market Recap* are:

Overall, 2019 was a good recovery year for the US Joint Fluid market with Single-injection treatment options at the helm

For Q419, revenue in the US Joint Fluid market was up, recovering fairly well from a year ago according to SmartTRAK Financial Dashboard. Aggregate growth for the quarter was attributable to a double-digit revenue growth in single injection. Stronger demand and heavy product push in that segment, especially at year-end, was offset to a certain extent by revenue declines in 3- and 5-injections. 

Among the many topics covered in the comprehensive Q419 US Joint Fluid Market Recap* are:

Mike Daly, VP and GM of Medtronic’s Brain Modulation, discusses the Company’s new Percept DBS System with BrainSense Technology in an interview with SmartTRAK

Although Medtronic has lost share in deep brain stimulation (DBS) over the last several years, the Company upped its game recently with the EU launch of its new Percept PC Neurostimulator with BrainSense technology, which received CE Mark in January 2020. Percept is a primary cell DBS device that can send and record brain signals while delivering therapy to patients for the treatment of symptoms associated with Parkinson’s disease, essential tremor, primary dystonic, epilepsy and obsessive-compulsive disorder.  Although Percept is currently available in the EU for open-loop sensing, the device is closed-loop capable, and Medtronic plans to conduct additional research in closed-loop DBS in hopes of eventually gaining regulatory approval for an Adaptive DBS system. 

To find out more about Percept DBS, BrainSense technology and what’s next for Medtronic’s Brain Modulation Business, click on the following video to listen to SmartTRAK’s interview with Mike Daly, Vice President and General Manager of the Brain Modulation Business within Medtronic. A transcript of the interview is also provided below.

Marcia Nusgart, Executive Director, Alliance of Wound Care Stakeholders, discusses the upcoming Wound Care Evidence Summit and improving payer coverage in an interview with SmartTRAK.

In the market for wound care products, the success of any product is highly dependent on whether or not manufacturers are able to obtain a positive coverage determination from public and commercial payers. In the last several years, obtaining product reimbursement has been more challenging as payers are restricting coverage for a growing number of wound care products due to a lack of clarity surrounding clinical evidence.

So, what are payers looking for? What and how much clinical evidence do payers need to cover wound care products and procedures? How can manufacturers prepare scientific evidence to meet payer needs, improve coverage and achieve more uniform policies for treating wounds in all healthcare settings? To answer these questions and more, the Alliance of Wound Care Stakeholders is convening payers, regulators, researchers, manufacturers and wound care providers at its upcoming Wound Care Evidence Summit to be held April 1-2, 2020 in Washington, DC.

To find out about the Summit, improving payer coverage and opportunities for industry, SmartTRAK’s Susan Paquette interviewed Marcia Nusgart, Executive Director of the Alliance of Wound Care Stakeholders.

Shifting spine procedures to an ASC setting and participating in a free market healthcare environment.

Richard A. Kube II, MD discusses the advantages and challenges of moving spine procedures to an Ambulatory Surgery Center (ASC) setting in an interview with SmartTRAK. Spine surgeon Dr. Kube founded the  Prairie Surgicare Spine Surgical Facility in Peoria, Illinois as well as the Illinois chapter of  Free Market Medical Association. He shares with us why many are choosing an ASC setting as well as the importance of transparency in healthcare. To find out more, click on the following video. A transcript of the interview is also provided below.

The Biologics Alliance opened their 1st Summit meeting February 5th in Carlsbad CA with a "Think Tank" session of companies developing new products for the treatment of cartilage-related problems and knee OA. The companies appeared before a panel of judges similar to those on Shark Tank, only these judges had a special expertise in orthopedics/OrthoBiologics. BioMedGPS' CEO Sharon O'Reilly and SmartTRAK Senior Analyst, Kim French were among the panel of judges comprised of industry representatives and analysts/press. Samumed was the first place winner for Lorecivivint (SM04690), Bioventus was 2nd place for PTP-001 and Organogenesis in 3rd w/ ReNu.