Wall Street analysts see Medtronic and Globus Medical currently in a “two pony race” in the robotic spine market, but market share can be stolen as other companies launch systems and adoption grows.
The robotics surge in orthopaedics has primarily been driven by hips and knees, with offerings from Stryker and Zimmer Biomet leading the way, leaving the spine market further behind.
But momentum has been building in recent years, and now Wall Street analysts and industry predict the spine robotics space has similar potential as the robotic hip or knee markets.
“The majority of the spine market today is still tied to more open, invasive procedures, so there’s a lot of runway to convert those open procedures to minimally invasive or robotic cases,” Kaila Krum, managing director for Truist Securities said. “Longer term, I do think that robotics is going to make up a bigger portion of the market.”
Leading the market is Medtronic, which bought into the spine robotic space with its $1.6 billion acquisition of Mazor Robotics in 2018. However, smaller companies like Globus Medical and NuVasive are looking to compete with the medtech giant as the market grows.
The robotic spine market can be hard to define as system placement numbers are not always clear. Krum estimated a total of about 5,500-6,000 robotic spine accounts, but hospitals or health systems can have multiple robotic systems.
Furthermore, the way companies account for placements can be muddled. Placements may not always mean a direct sale of a system, which can cost upwards of $1 million. A placement can be sold outright, leased and paid off over time or bundled with other products and technologies.
By Ricky Zipp | MEDTECH DIVE
Image Credit: Medtronic
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