Robotics and M&A continued to define the orthopedics industry in 2018.
Though 2018 featured no megamergers, the orthopedic industry wasn’t quiet. After investing heavily in Israeli robotic spine surgery firm Mazor Robotics, Medtronic bought the firm for $1.7 billion. Stryker nabbed complex spine company K2M for $1.4 billion to bolster its struggling spine business and continued its tried and true tuck-in strategy by grabbing six other companies throughout the year. Wright also purchased Synthetic Cartilage Implant maker Cartiva for $435 million while Smith & Nephew added the NovoStitch Pro complex meniscal tear repair device to its arsenal last December with its $105 buy of Ceterix Orthopaedics.
Robotic and computer-assisted surgical solutions continued to thrive. Thanks to Mazor, Medtronic can attempt to build a fully-integrated procedural solution for spine surgery planning, execution, and confirmation. DePuy Synthes underscored its commitment to robotics by acquiring Orthotaxy, whose small, portable robotic system notably doesn’t require CT scans or special technicians. Globus fortified its ExcelsiusGPS computer-assisted surgery system by purchasing the Surgimap software platform, which helps plan and simulate outcomes while treating complex spinal deformities through a cloud-based infrastructure with predictive algorithms and visual guides. In a similar vein, NuVasive gained an FDA nod for its Pulse automation platform for spine surgery, which combines 2D and 3D navigation and smart imaging, neuromonitoring, surgical planning, radiation reduction, and patient-specific rod bending technologies.
Some of the Top 10 experienced the FDA’s wrath last year. The agency slapped Zimmer Biomet with a warning letter last August over quality control issues in the company’s Warsaw facility. Globus subsidiary Human Biologics of Texas, which makes the firm’s ViaCell allograft, also came under fire last Halloween for failures to document and investigate production deviations.
By ODT Staff | Orthopedic Design & Technology
Image Credit: Orthopedic Design & Technology
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