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Changing Form, But Not Function: Smith & Nephew Expands NPWT Market

The drive toward cost-effectiveness and expanded patient access have spurred device developers to take proven therapies or procedures and re-engineer them in ways that make them simpler, less expensive and easier to use. Now, the biggest player in wound care is following suit. In January, Smith & Nephew PLC announced that the FDA had cleared PICO, its new, single-use, pocket-sized negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) system.

Health care reform initiatives in their various forms tend to agree that cost-effectiveness and expanded patient access are important goals. To serve these ends, in recent years there has been a trend for device developers to take proven therapies or procedures and re-engineer them in ways that make them simpler, less expensive and easier to use, while delivering therapy that is at least equivalent to current treatment.

Such products are emerging in diabetes, with low-cost, disposable insulin pumps (like that of Valeritas Inc., which recently raised a $150 million Series C round [See Deal]) for patients with type II diabetes; or in arrhythmia monitoring, where iRhythm Technologies Inc. is advancing a disposable arrhythmia diagnosis device that can replace traditional capital-equipment based Holter monitoring. (SeeAlso see "iRhythm: Reinventing Arrhythmia Monitoring " - In Vivo, 1 October, 2011..) In obstructive sleep apnea, start-up Ventus Medical Inc. has developed a low-cost disposable therapy as an alternative to cumbersome and expensive CPAP machines. (SeeAlso see "Sleep Apnea Devices: The Changing Of The Guard " - Medtech Insight, 1 October, 2010.

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