American Medical Systems' Make Over

The sale of American Medical Systems to private equity investor Warburg Pincus started the company on a new path. Long successful in male-focused markets like erectile dysfunction, part of the new direction for AMS entailed a new management team and a reinvigorated product development effort. But in AMS's case, the development effort was focused not on the company's core business, but in a related area, products to treat female uro-genital problems. Though similar in some respects, the urology and gynecology markets are more notable for their striking differences. AMS's male-oriented lines are market development-driven, aimed at educating and attracting customers among men reluctant to seek care; gynecology is more about product development, getting new therapies into the hands of patients eager to use them.