Artificial Discs: Experiencing a Cooling Trend
Article preview reprinted from IN VIVO - June 2008
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Even the larger players in the artificial disc market, including Johnson & Johnson's DePuy Inc., Medtronic Inc., Stryker Corp. and Synthes Inc. are not immune to the woes of the downturn. Find out why...
Artificial Discs: Experiencing a Cooling Trend
One of the hottest sectors for device investors over the past several years, artificial discs in spine are retrenching, due to reimbursement constraints and slower-than-expected adoption of the devices.
The slow uptake in artificial disc sales for lumbar and cervical indications and the uncertain reimbursement environment are impacting the motion preservation sector as a whole.
Half of the more than 50 artificial discs in the pipeline are from single-product companies, raising questions about what the possible exits for these companies may be.
Even the larger players are sharing in the woes of the downturn in the artificial disc market.
One indication of how times are changing is the redefining of the mission of the Spine Arthroplasty Society (SAS), which will continue to have a "spine surgeon only" membership.
With artificial discs experiencing a cooling trend owing to an expected reduction in CMS reimbursement for both cervical and lumbar disc replacement, the spotlight on spine arthroplasty among investors is starting to wane. Amid all of the hype and overzealous projections that characterized this industry five years ago, fueled by acquisitions of artificial discs by the four major players—Johnson & Johnson's DePuy Inc., Medtronic Inc., Stryker Corp. and Synthes Inc.—totaling well over $1 billion, capital from the investment community started pouring into this space. The result was a plethora of newly formed spine companies developing motion preservation technologies ranging from nucleus replacement and dynamic stabilization to intraspinous spacers, facet joint replacement and, perhaps most notably, artificial discs. According to osPipeline, a new online database from Market Monitors that tracks the R&D developments of emerging companies and technologies in the motion preservation space, there are now 12 public and over 50 privately held companies investigating over 120 new technologies in this sector.
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Companies listed in this article:
Abbott Laboratories Inc.
Abbott Spine
Advanced Neuromodulation Systems Inc.
Alphatec Holdings Inc.
Applied Spine Technologies Inc.
BioAssets Development Corp.
CR Bard Inc.
Impra Inc.
Disc Motion Technologies
Globus Medical Inc.
Ideal Medical Products
Scient'X SA
Impliant Inc.
Innovative Spinal Technologies Inc.
Johnson & Johnson
Cordis Corp.
DePuy Inc.
DePuy Spine Inc.
LDR Holding Corp.
LDR Medical
LDR Spine USA Inc.
Medtronic Inc.
Kyphon Inc.
Medtronic Sofamor Danek
NuVasive Inc.
Orthofix International NV
Osiris Therapeutics Inc.
Paradigm Spine LLC
Pioneer Surgical Technology
SpinalMotion Inc.
St. Jude Medical Inc.
Stryker Corp.
Synthes Inc.
N Spine Inc.
TranS1 Inc.
Zimmer Holdings Inc.
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