Spine Market: Pure Plays Continue to Grab Share

Amidst low growth and a potential rebound in the $9 billion global spine market, the pure-play spine companies, including NuVasive, Globus, K2M and LDR, continue to outperform and grab share from the diversified giants. Medtech Insight founder and former CEO Sharon O'Reilly reports on these companies and more from the 2015 North American Spine Society (NASS) conference in Chicago, where the latest news centered around ancillary approaches to fusion, patient-specific tools, robotics, biologics, expandable cages, MIS and cervical discs.

Slow and stable growth is the new mantra for the spine market as the industry enters a mature stage – a welcome change from the turbulence experienced over the past few years. This year’s North American Spine Society (NASS) conference in Chicago was more subdued than past meetings and not rocked by major M&A or IPO announcements or new blockbuster products. (SeeAlso see "Orthopedics: Bracing For Change" - Medtech Insight, 29 May, 2015..) Instead, the buzz centered around ancillary approaches to fusion – the industry’s largest segment accounting for 88% of the total US spine hardware market according to BioMedGPS’ SmartTRAK Financial Dashboard as shown in Exhibit 1. Patient-specific tools, robotics, biologics, expandable cages and, not surprisingly, minimally invasive surgery and cervical discs were the dominant themes of the meeting. The general consensus based on conversations on the NASS 2015 exhibit floor is that the $9 billion global spine market will expand at a slow pace (about 2%), pricing will remain under pressure and the pure-play spine companies (NuVasive Inc., Globus Medical Inc., K2M Group Holdings Inc. and [LDR Spine USA Inc.]/LDR Holding Corp.) will continue to grab share from the diversified giants. (SeeAlso see "Spine Market: Making A Comeback" - Medtech Insight, 30 January, 2015..)

Zimmer Biomet Holdings Inc., SeaSpine Holdings Corp., Integra LifeSciences' public spin-off, and Xtant Medical, formed from the merger...

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