ArthroCare Sews Up an Advantage in Sports Medicine

In a rapidly growing market like the sports medicine segment of orthopedics, it pays for companies to strike early. The introduction of new technologies and a population that alternates between sedentary work weeks and extreme sports on the weekends are fueling market growth rates of 30% annually. Thus, ArthroCare Corp. didn't hesitate to snap up five-year-old Opus Medical Inc., developer of a novel suturing and anchor system for arthroscopic soft tissue repair. In sports medicine, AthroCare's largest and most established target market (spine and ear, nose & throat are its other major markets), the Opus technology will help ArthroCare increase market penetration.