Expanded indications along with new implants and technologies driving strong market growth
6 min read
Joint Fluid Market: New Players, New Products
Changing competitive landscape set to expand overall market
With few options available for treating OA pain, joint fluid injections have become a standard part of the treatment regimen for patients with painful arthritic knees. Even though it is not possible to predict which knee pain sufferers will respond to viscosupplementation therapy, commonly administered as a series of injections of hyaluronic acid, most patients seeking treatment will at least give it a “try” as an alternative to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and before resorting to joint replacement.
Topics:
Orthopedics
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10 min read
Desert Foot: Battle of the Skin Substitutes
Desert Foot: Targeting the high-risk diabetic VA patient population for wound care products
Importance of the VA/IHS Systems
One of the largest of the Federal Service healthcare systems, operating 151 Medical Centers, 300 Vet Centers and 827 Community-based Outpatient Centers, the VA is the largest integrated healthcare system in the US, with an annual budget exceeding $50B. The VA system services 8.76 million veterans annually with almost 25% of veterans being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, and roughly 2.6 million over 65 years of age.
Topics:
Wound Care
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Trend #1: Consolidation on a Large Scale Done, Mostly Tuck-In Acquisitions Going Forward
Now that the Zimmer Biomet merger is a done deal, the number of major players in the arthroscopy/sports medicine market has dwindled to a mere five. Consolidation has already hit this market with Smith & Nephew’s (S&N) $1.6B acquisition of Arthrocare in 2014 and CONMED’s partnership with MTF’s Sports Medicine subsidiary in 2012. Interestingly enough, Medtronic inherited a line of soft tissue fixation devices from their recent purchase of Covidien, however, it is not certain what the Company will do, if anything, with these products. As a result of these recent take-outs, exhibitors on the floor of the American Association of Sports Medicine (AOSSM) meeting in Orlando in July were noticeably fewer with the usual suspects, Arthrex, S&N, Zimmer Biomet, and Stryker, only getting larger. M&A going forward will likely result in smaller deals such as Stryker’s 2013 acquisition of hip arthroscopy developer, Pivot Medical, as companies look to fill gaps in their product portfolio.