Spine Market: Pure Plays Continue to Grab Share

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..)