Corin, Osteotech and Integra report 4Q . . . Baxter to acquire ApaTech for up to $330.0 million . . . Intrinsic Therapeutics closes on $18.0 million of a $20.0 million round . . . FDA schedules Orthopaedic and Rehabilitation Devices Panel meeting for Menaflex . . . Aetna and United Healthcare reverse prior policies and announce that they will cover NuVasive's XLIF . . . Congress delays Medicare pay cut more
Alphatec Spine reported 4Q:09 revenues of $36.6 million, an increase of 29% from the $28.4 million reported in 4Q:08. U.S. revenues for the quarter were $28.3 million, an increase of 29% from the $22.0 million reported for 4Q:08. U.S. revenues for the quarter were $28.3 million, an increase of 29% from the $22.0 million reported for 4Q:08. Asian revenues were $6.6 million, an increase of 38% from the $4.8 million reported for 4Q:08. European revenues in 4Q:09 were $1.7 million. more
The FDA approved a BLA for Auxilium's Xiaflex (collagenase clostridium histolyticum) last week, following a unanimous panel recommendation (registration required) in September. Xiaflex is the first non-surgical treatment for Dupuytren's Contracture, which is characterized by a bending of the fingers... more
Starting in October 2009, HealthpointCapital initiated a one-year Research Scholarship at the Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) for a select oprthopedic surgeon from China. This month, we checked in with our Research Scholar, Dr. Xiaodong Ju, to see how he... more
Earnings Corin reported 1H:09 sales of GBP 20.1 million ($33.0 million), down 25% over 1H:08 after adjusting for currency and beating estimates by GBP 2.1 million ($3.5 million). Outside the U.S., revenues increased by 10%, which the company attributed to... more
Earnings aap Implantate reported 1H:09 sales of EUR 14.7 million ($20.7 million), representing a 10% decreased from 1H:08. Adjusting for one-time income, sales were down 3%, and in the second half of 2009, the company "anticipates a recovery in demand... more
Earnings Anika Therapeutics reported 2Q:09 revenue of $9.5 million, representing a 5% increase over 2Q:08 and missing estimates by $0.4 million. The company attributed revenue growth to both the ORTHOVISC and MONOVISC product lines, which contributed $5.6 million to total... more
Teenagers sending and receiving an average of 80 text messages each day may be vulnerable to repetitive stress injuries of the thumb, according to the New York Times. As with Blackberry Thumb, compulsive texting can cause cramping, pain or numbness.... more
Teriparatide, a recombinant form of parathyroid hormone marketed by Eli Lilly as Forteo, has been shown to stimulate stem cell production and accelerate the healing of fractured bones, according to study data presented at the Orthopaedic Research Society meeting in... more
Earnings Artimplant reported 4Q:08 revenues of SEK 4.6 million ($0.6 million), down from SEK 5.0 million ($0.8 million) in 4Q:07. During the quarter, the company reported sales of 900 Artelon Spacers (down from 1,100 in 4Q:07) and 300 units of... more
Earnings CONMED Corp. reported 4Q:08 revenues of $179.2 million, down 5% versus 4Q:07 and beating estimates by $2.26 million. Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share were $0.34, down 23% from 4Q:07 and beating estimates by $0.05. The company reported 4Q:08 arthroscopy... more
Earnings Kensey Nash reported FQ2:09 revenues of $20.8 million, up 6% over the year-ago period and beating estimates by $0.4 million. Net income for the quarter was $5.2 million, or $0.44 per diluted share, beating estimates by $0.04 and representing... more
Funding In addition to its regularly scheduled payments, Orthofix International will make a $10 million debt prepayment on December 29th in advance of the scheduled maturity. According to Executive Vice President and CFO Bob Vaters, "This is a good time... more
The pinkie, asserts the New York Times, is not generally the most prized of one's fingers. Those distinctions usually go to the index finger, with its unparalleled ability to guide a fork and knife or mouse-click, or the sentimental ring... more
Earnings Alphatec Spine, Inc. announced that consolidated revenues for 3Q:08 were $25.8 million, an increase of 27.1% from the $20.3 million reported for the 3Q:07. U.S. revenues for 3Q:08 were $21.5 million, an increase of 27.7% from the $16.8 million... more
This evening, BioMimetic Therapeutics (BMTI) issued a press release stating it has reached a settlement with Deutsche Bank regarding BMTI's holdings of auction-rate securities (ARS). BMTI told investors on its 2Q08 conference call that it had approximately $60 million of... more
This month, the Journal of Hand Surgery features a report on the two American patients who received allogenic hand and forearm transplants and are performing beyond expectations at 9 and 7 years post-operatively, respectively. Their progress helps demonstrate that transplanting... more
Earnings BioMimetic Therapeutics reported a 2Q:08 net loss of $9.2 million, or $0.50 per diluted share, widening from a net loss of $6.4 million, or $0.35 per diluted share, in 2Q:07. Clinical highlights for the quarter include the announcement of... more
Regulatory Interventional Spine announced that the FDA has conditionally approved its IDE application for the PercuDyn System, pending the company providing some additional information to the FDA. CEO Walter Cuevas commented that the company will now begin collecting data to... more
Earnings Symmetry Medical reported 1Q:08 revenue of $101.9 million, up 57% from the year-ago period. Revenue was positively affected by the recent acquisitions of TNCO, Inc., Specialty Surgical Instrumentation Inc. and DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc.'s Massachusetts manufacturing facility. Net income for... more
M&A Wright Medical Group, Inc. announced that it has acquired the foot and ankle product line of A.M. Surgical, Inc. The systems purchased address the decompression and soft tissue release procedures most commonly performed by foot and ankle surgeons. The... more
Earnings aap Implantate AG announced 1Q:08 revenues of EUR 8.0 million ($12.64 million), up 36% over the year-ago period. The company attributed the growth to a 146% increase in sales in its Trauma & Orthopaedics division, which contributed EUR 3.7... more
BioMimetic Therapeutics' shares dove sharply last week (and recovered somewhat less sharply) because the FDA raised the possibility that the active ingredient of all of the company's products, PDGF (Platelet-Derived Growth Factor), caused cancer. From Thursday's intraday high price per... more
Earnings Hanger Orthopedic Group reported 4Q:07 net sales of $170.8 million, beating estimates by $7.5 million and representing an 11% over the year-ago period. Revenue growth was attributed to an increase in same-center sales from Hanger's patient care business, an... more
Earnings Kensey Nash reported FQ2:08 total revenues of $19.6 million, missing estimates by $0.05 million and up 14% over the year-ago period. Net sales of biomaterials products increased 15% to $11.5 million, which the company attributed to orthopedic sales. The... more
M&A ArthroCare Corp. acquired DiscoCare, Inc., whom the company describes as "a third-party billing and reimbursement service provider," for $25 million in cash plus potential future milestone payments. The company says, "This acquisition will allow ArthroCare to significantly expand its... more
Medtronic announced plans yesterday to bring spine and orthopedic therapies to the Chinese market through a joint venture with Shandong Weigao Group Medical Polymer Company Limited. Under the joint venture agreement, the companies will sell spine and orthopedic products, including... more
There were two big announcements from BioMimetic Therapeutics this week, the first being an announcement that came yesterday on the impending sale of the dental business and the GEM 21S product to Luitpold Pharmaceuticals, which currently markets GEM 21S. BioMimetic... more
Addicted to BlackBerry? You may be at risk for what some physicians are calling BlackBerry Thumb, a condition where tendons in the thumb are strained by BlackBerry overuse. In an article on WebMD titled, BlackBerry Thumb: Real Illness or Just... more
Legal Federal prosecutors announced on Thursday the terms of a settlement with Zimmer, Depuy, Biomet, Smith & Nephew and Stryker following an investigation into physician compensation practices. Zimmer, Depuy, Biomet and Smith & Nephew entered into deferred prosecution agreements and... more
At the confluence of war and improved medical care sit the 130 U.S. veterans of the current war in Iraq who have had an arm amputated. Advances in battlefield medical care have allowed soldiers who would have died in combat... more
M&A DJO announced on Monday plans for merger with ReAble (formerly Encore Medical). ReAble will acquire all outstanding shares of DJO stock, a transaction valued at approximately $1.6 billion and including the assumption of debt. The transaction will be funded... more
M&A Biomet Inc. shareholders accepted an $11.4 billion buyout offer from a private equity consortium attempting to acquire the medical device maker. The consortium, LVB Acquisition LLC, announced Thursday that nearly 83 percent of Biomet's shares were tendered. The company... more
The FDA recommended the approval of Link's Scandinavian Total Ankle Replacement System (S.T.A.R.) after a favorable advisory panel vote of 4-2. If approved, the device would be the first mobile bearing ankle marketed in the U.S. Although mobile bearing ankles... more
Earnings Stryker announced 1Q:07 earnings on Wednesday. Net income increased to $243.5 million, or $0.59 per share, beating analysts' estimates of $0.58 per share. In the comparable quarter, net income was $147.5 million, or $0.36 per share. Revenues increased 13%... more
Earnings Vertebron announced in a press release that 1Q:07 was its most profitable quarter ever. The Company attributes the growth to a significant sales increase over the comparable quarter last year as well as a company-wide restructuring in 3Q:06. Vertebron... more
Foot & Ankle International reported in its December 2006 issue that heavy, metal devices implanted in the foot and ankle can set off security devices. The walk-through metal detector was shown to be less sensitive than a scan with a... more
GEM OS1 is BioMimetic Therapeutics' developmental product for open fracture reduction or fractures requiring surgery in orthopedic applications. The therapy consists of both particulate Beta-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) with recombinant human Platelet-Derived Growth Factor (rhPDGF-ββ). BioMimetic has a similar, already-marketed product,... more
In a press release yesterday, Genzyme, maker of Synvisc, announced a CMS decision that would group all viscosupplementation products into the same reimbursement code in January 2007. The company stated that they would fight hard to dispute this decision (through... more
Earnings: Biomet reported its 1Q:07 earnings totaled $0.44 per share (excluding the adoption of the share-based payment) which was $0.01 more than what analysts were expecting. Revenues increased by 5% to $508 million (foreign currency had a $3 million favorable... more
Appointment: Ranier Technology Limited has appointed John C. Moran to its Board of Directors. Previously, Mr. Moran was a President of Synthes Spine and a Director of Spine Solutions, Inc. Active Implants Corporation (AIC) has hired Richard Treharne, PhD. as... more
Earnings: Biologics: IsoTis OrthoBiologics reported 2Q:06 revenue of $10.8 million, up 43% compared to $7.5 million in 2Q:05. Its U.S. division grew 22%, while international revenues grew 39%. The Company has three distribution channels: U.S. independent agents, international distributors and... more
Earnings Results: Biologics: Anika Therapeutics announced 2Q:06 net sales increased 11% to $7.1 million. Product revenues grew 74% while licensing, milestone and contract revenue was down 77%. The large product sales growth was partially driven by higher demand for OrthoVisc®;... more
This past weekend we attended the 22nd Annual Summer Meeting of the American Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Society in La Jolla (AOFAS). The conference ran from July 14-16, 2006 at the Hilton Torrey Pines Hotel and there were approximately 400... more
Appointment: Biomet, Inc. appointed Charles E. Niemier as President of EBI's operations following the resignation of its former president, Bart J. Doedens, M.D. Mr. Niemier has been a member of the senior management team and Board of Directors for more... more
Appointments: Tutogen Medical appointed Dr. Karl Koschatzky to the position of Managing Director. Dr. Koschatzky will replace Manfred Kruger, who was Tutogen's President of International operations and Managing Director of the German subsidiary. IsoTis OrthoBiologics appointed James William (Jim) Poser,... more
Appointment: Spine Wave announced that it has elected Ron Pickard to its Board of Directors. In addition to his role on the Board, Mr. Pickard will be actively involved in key projects including the development and commercialization of Spine Wave's... more
Ascension Orthopedics announced that it received FDA approval for a pyrocarbon foot implant called PyroSphere. It is designed to treat patients suffering from arthritis of the fourth and fifth tarsometatarsal joints of the foot. This approval represents Ascension's initial entry... more
The first group of orthopedic companies reported their 1Q:06 this week and took in $5.3 billion so far. The total aggregated revenues for the quarter were up by 7% from $4.9 billion in 1Q:05. The industry netted $637.8 million, a... more
Our regular readers will remember that a few months ago, Zimmer and HCA had an unusually public fight. To briefly review, HCA entered into volume discount contracts with Zimmer, Stryker and DePuy. At year end, the implant companies reported HCA... more
This week at HealthpointCapital, we compiled a brief synopsis of the 2006 Orthopedic Industry, projecting that total revenue in 2006 will grow by 12% for the year. Appointment: Two notable extremities companies named their new CEOs this week: Wright Medical... more
In addition to the Top Sessions we chose, we have added AAOS presentations by our Scientific Advisory Board members. Please click on the link at the bottom to view the entire list. Wednesday, March 22 10:30 AM - 12:30 PM127Changing... more
Although management teams are preparing for AAOS, a few more companies reported earnings this week. We did a quick calculation and found that our internal Orthopedic Index PE year-to-date has stayed relatively flat at 27x. We expect that the AAOS... more
Privately held ONI Medical Systems announced that Peter Pellerito will join as President and CEO. Peter's background is in ultrasound imaging, first at ATL, and then at GE Healthcare. At GE Healthcare he was most recently the VP and General... more
Smith & Nephew reported results for 4Q05 and FY2005, and they were strong particularly within their Orthopedics segment. For the quarter, they saw 15% growth (ex F/X) in orthopedic sales to $1,267 million, which broke down as follows: *Knees: +12%... more
DePuy's acquisition of Hand Innovations is significant in the orthopedic space for several reasons. First, it marks the third acquisition of the year already following both Stryker's acquisition of PlasmaSol and Kyphon's purchase of InnoSpine. We, along with several other... more
Small Bone Innovations Inc. (SBI), a maker of orthopedic devices for the extremities, announced today that it raised $42.2m in a Series B financing. NGN Capital and 3i led the round with $12m each, and they were joined by Axiom... more
Due to last week's Merrill Lynch investor conference (subscription may be required), investors have regained confidence in the orthopedic sector after the industry faced some hurdles within the past few months. In our HealthpointCapital Weekly Valuation Index, P/E (price-to-earnings) jumped... more
Appointment: OrthoSoft announced that Max Link has joined its Boards of Directors. With over 25 years of experience, Mr. Link is a very well-recognized individual in the medical device and pharmaceutical industry. He was CEO and Chairman of Centerpulse when... more
Regulatory Update: Osteobiologics received FDA clearance on its OsteoChondral Transplant (OCT) Comprehensive System Instruments. The system is intended for the treatment of osteochondral (cartilage) defects in the knee. BioSyntech received an approval from Health Canada, Therapeutic Products Directorate, Medical Devices... more
It has been a busy week for many CEOs and CFOs in the orthopedic device sector. In the past two weeks orthopedic companies reported 3Q:05 sales of $4.7 billion which was a 12% increase over the 3Q:04. Net earnings for... more
This week, we decided to post the Orthopedic News Roundup for Thursday, instead of Friday due to the upcoming holiday. Clearly the biggest headline this week is the announcement of a take-over bid by Musculoskeletal Transplant Foundation ("MTF") for Osteotech... more
This week we completed the orthopedic reporting calendar as a few more companies reported earnings, starting with Synthes, the number #1 trauma company worldwide. Synthes reported 20% growth in both top and bottom line for 1H:05. Consolidated sales reported at... more
The American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) put on its annual summer meeting in Boston last week. The conference began on Wednesday with the 2nd International Congress on Total Ankle Anthroplasty and Current Techniques for Treatment of Ankle Arthritis.... more
This morning Orthofix announced that Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) approved the Company's request to modify its coding mechanisms to include specific coding for hospital procedures utilizing external fixation devices. As of October of this year, facilities will... more
Wright reported 1Q:05 revenues of $82.6 million which was a 10% increase over the 1Q:04. Excluding the effect of currency, WMGI revenues increased 9%. The 10% growth in revenues was almost 3% slower than the revenue growth reported during the... more
Wright reported both 4Q:04 and year-end 2004 financials on Thursday evening. 4Q:04 revenues totaled $77.7 million a 13% increase over 4Q:03 revenues and at the upper end of management's previous guidance of revenues of $76-$78 million. Revenues for the year... more
Complete Archive
The latest news from AAOS! VITA and MAKO report 4Q09 . . . ETEX receives 510(k) . . . DePuy, Integra, Medtronic, Smith & Nephew and more announce product launches . . . SEC Drops Wright Medical Investigation . . . BioMimetic Therapeutics shares study results . . . Long-term use of bisphosphonates may increase fracture risk . . . NeoStem wins research grant 