Revenues down again, competitive pricing pressures remain, market is under FDA scrutiny

After a sluggish start of the year, the US Joint Fluid market gained steam during the quarter as demand and volumes picked up in several market segments in spite of intense competitive pricing pressures. Revenues were within SmartTRAK’s projected range with a marginal decline of -0.3% YoY according to the recently published SmartTRAK Financial Dashboard.

For Q119, the 3-injection segment accounted for 44.6%  of the US Joint Fluid market, followed by single-injection products at 41.5%, the 5-injection segment at 12.9% and rounding up the market with the 2-injection segment at 1.1%, according to SmartTRAK Financial Dashboard results. The single-injection segment showed good recovery from last year driven by increased adoption of newer products and/or sales expansion measures by some suppliers. The 3-injection segment was down in the low single digits during Q119 owing to continued and fierce pricing competition. The 5-injection segment showed no reprieve from its downward trend, declining...

Among the many topics covered in the Q119 US Joint Fluid Market Recap are:

SmartTRAK Interviews Arthrosurface CEO Steve Ek about new WaveKahuna PFJ Implant

Arthrosurface hopes to expand the market for joint arthroplasty with a novel patellofemoral arthroplasty implant and five-year data demonstrating long-term clinical benefits for treating patients with patellofemoral pain earlier in the treatment continuum, with evidence suggesting that it halts the progression of osteoarthritis (OA).

Today, many of these patients fall into a treatment gap. As much as 22% of the US population could be suffering from patellofemoral pain, according to a recent analysis of data from 23 studies. PLoS One Many orthopedic surgeons remain unconvinced that surgical management is of long-term benefit. Instead they choose to manage these patients with conservative treatment until they become candidates for joint replacement.

To find out more about the Company’s new patellofemoral arthroplasty implant, the WaveKahuna, and how it can address surgeon concerns about long-term clinical benefits, SmartTRAK interviewed Arthrosurface CEO Steve Ek, and Gregory Nicholson, MD, Rush University Medical Center at the 2019 American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeon’s (AAOS) Annual Meeting held March 12-16 in Las Vegas, NV.

Med device giants are scooping up innovative technologies

The Spine market is bustling with activity so far this spring, with two notable acquisitions hot off the press.

Medtronic announced its acquisition of Titan Spine,  strengthening Medtronic's interbody position with Titan Spine's portfolio, which consists of a full line of titanium, surface-enhanced interbody fusion devices featuring Titan’s nanoLock surface technology. The acquisition is expected to close during Medtronic's first fiscal quarter ending July 26, 2019, although terms of the deal were not disclosed. Titan Spine currently markets its line of Endoskeleton interbody devices in the US, Europe and Australia. This acquisition further validates the shift in the interbody market from PEEK to porous titanium. Medtronic already offers interbodies manufactured from Ti-coated PEEK (Pure Titanium Coating or PTC) and just last year launched a titanium 3D printed platform – TiONIC Technology - that enables more complex designs and integrated surface technologies for spine surgery implants.

Sequential improvement despite tough comps, supply disruption and pricing pressure

BioMedGPS’s SmartTRAK Senior Analyst for Computer-Assisted Surgery, Elise Wolf, participated as an expert on robotics in a panel discussion entitled “Tech Talk: An Overview of the Growing Role of Additive Manufacturing and Robotic Surgery” at the ODT Forum (Orthopedics Device & Technology Forum) in Memphis, TN on April 11th. The panel, facilitated by Dawn Lissy, President of Empirical Testing, also included spine robotics entrepreneur Mitch Foster, CEO of Mindset Medical and former CEO of Excelsius Surgical, a surgical robotics technology company that was acquired by Globus Medical in 2013. Brian McLaughlin, CEO of Amplify, an additive manufacturing startup specializing in foot and ankle implants, and Chuck Hansford, Director of Advanced Materials Processing at Tecomet, participated in the discussion on additive manufacturing...

The top Sports Medicine competitors are making moves

The consolidation within the Sports Medicine market over the past four years has allowed several of the top players to build upon their growing portfolio and make moves within the market.  While Arthrex continues to lead with innovation, Smith and Nephew is focused on the healing capabilities within its shoulder portfolio.  New-ish CEO Namal Nawana has set the tone of acquisitions across all of SNN’s franchises to enhance SNN’s portfolio and fill gaps in their bag. Stryker is reaping the benefits of their acquisitions and becoming a viable competitor in the hip arthroscopy market.  Zimmer Biomet and CONMED appear to be making a comeback in the Sports market with strong leadership, consistency and a launch into new areas of Sports Medicine...

Among the many topics covered in the Q418/FY18 Soft Tissue FixationMarket Recap are:

Advanced, higher priced biologics push the US OrthoBio Market higher

Based on Q418/FY18  SmartTRAK Financial Dashboard reporting:

• US Bone Replacement grew +2.3% YoY, with FY18 revenues up +2.7%.
• US Cartilage Replacement increased 55.7% YoY, with FY18 revenues up 34.7%.
• US Soft Tissue Augmentation grew 2.3%, with FY18 revenues growing 9.2%.
• US Tendon Allografts posted an 8.4% YoY increase, with FY18 revenues up +3.9% YoY
• US Meniscal Implant market, with robust growth, was up 15.6% YoY for Q418 with FY18 revenues increasing by 3.0%.

Among the many topics covered in the Q418/FY18 OrthoBio Market Recap are:

Q418 US Spine market remains fairly flat, rounding out a stable but unremarkable FY18.

SmartTRAK’s Financial Dashboard indicates a fairly flat Q418 US Spine market, with a decline of -0.4%. Similarly, for the full year, the US Spine Market was stable, with +0.9% growth. WW revenues increased modestly with a +1% uptick for FY2018. Spine market growth as a whole slowed sequentially to +1% in Q418 from +2% in Q3 according to estimates. Growth continues to be restricted in the US Spine market by a few key factors. Payer pushback is the norm, and while most surgical practices have learned to deal with it, the environment is ever-changing with new obstacles and hurdles.

Among the many topics covered in SmartTRAK's Q418/FY18 Spine Market Recap are:

Pricing pressure and tough comps slow year end growth

SmartTRAK reports that pricing pressure and a slow down in elective procedures impacted the Extremities market overall, with US Market growth down sequentially from +4.7% seen in Q318 to +3.5% in Q418. The Extremities market no longer seems to be able to fly under the radar and, as healthcare facilities look to maximize reimbursement in all areas, pricing for legacy products are facing discounting. In addition to pricing pressure, economic uncertainty in the US during Q4 led to some healthcare consumers choosing to put off elective procedures...

Among the many topics covered in the Q418/FY18 Extremities Market Recap:

Revenues down again, owing to intense competitive pricing pressures

Pricing pressure continued to negatively impact the US Joint Fluid market, which experienced a decline of -7.9% based on Q418 revenues according to SmartTRAK Financial Dashboard. While this market continued to see unit volume increases, ASPs experienced notable declines over the past four quarters as a result of several companies not listing ASPs to CMS, which fueled competitive pricing. Additionally, revenues were impacted by the Anthem non-coverage decision that took effect in Q118 and kept impacting suppliers over the course of the year...

Among the many topics covered in the Q418/FY18 Joint Fluid Market Recap: