Custom knee resurfacing implant developer ConforMIS announced that it has raised $50 million from a group of private equity firms and non-US government investment funds. This 2004 start-up has steadily developed a technology that turns patient imaging data into custom knee implants and surgical instruments.
ConfirmMIS is seeking to refine - or even redefine - the way knee procedures are done by mapping the articular surface of a patient's individual joint, then utilizing this information to make a CAD/CAM developed custom-fit implant. The idea is to preserve non-damaged tissue versus traditional knee arthroplasty which is invasive and involves morbidity to surrounding anatomical structures.
The company doesn't stop there, but also develops custom instruments based on patient data. This allows surgeons utilize a minimally invasive approach with fewer steps in surgery.
Could this be a model that is disruptive to the knee giants like Zimmer and Biomet? Certainly CAD/CAM techniques in dental implants and dental labs have been deployed for better crown accuracy and implant fit. The head scratcher for us is can patient-specific knee products be scaled into a large business the same way it has worked in dental?
While these methods work well in dental, the rubber meets the road in larger musculoskeletal implants where capital expenditure for instrument manufacture can take a bite out of cash flow. Especially - we wonder - where every patient has custom instruments.
It will be of great interest to see how the ConfirmMIS model will scale in the real world. Could the secret of success lie in a smaller number of instruments being required (hence lower capital expenditures) like the company says? Or could it be that there is a minimal inventory investment needed? A single just-in-time-produced implant showing up to the O.R. versus an array of sizes means less cash tied up in inventory.
Whatever the answer, ConforMIS just got a $50 million vote of confidence.
See related posts on
Knee
