Knees to remember and hips to forget will likely be the big stories on the convention floor at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) the week of March 19, 2013 in Chicago, Illinois.
Zimmer Holdings, Inc., and DePuySynthes are both hoping to attract surgeons to their booths to check out their new knee products. In the meantime, companies will be downplaying their metal-on-metal hip implants as failure rates continue to bring lawsuits against almost all makers of the devices.
With a whopping 26% market share in knees, Zimmer is launching a significant new knee product at AAOS in what the company has called the largest development project the company has ever undertaken.
The Persona fixed-bearing total knee system is expected by analysts like Wells Fargo’s Larry Biegelsen to make a big impact on surgeons looking at the latest technology. The Persona is being marketed as, “The Personalized Knee System.” It offers about twice as many implant sizes and requires a lot fewer number of instrument trays as Zimmer’s current knees. In theory, patients should like it better and hospitals should be able to reduce costs.
According to Biegelsen, the world’s number two knee seller, DePuySynthes, will also be launching a new fixed-bearing primary system at the exhibition.
The DePuySynthes Attune is being released in a limited launch and not much information is available before the meeting. But Biegelsen believes that many of the Persona benefits will likely be true for the Attune as well. A full launch in expected later in 2013. Apparently the Attune design team is large and filled with key opinion leaders.
Attune’s geometry is novel, says Biegelsen, and represents a significant move toward addressing many of the surgeon and patient concerns following total knee replacement. A photo of the Attune was shown during Johnson & Johnson’s analyst meeting on January 22. The Attune improves mid-flexion stability.
The last two significant knee system launches were Biomet Inc.’s Vanguard and Stryker Corporation’s Triathlon in 2004.
In the meeting rooms, surgeons will be talking about economics, reimbursements and politics with four key symposia titled:
- Accountable Care Organizations and Bundled Payments: Passing Trends or a New Paradigm?
- Measuring Quality in Orthopedics
- Debates on the use of BMP in Spine Surgery
- The Social and Economic Value of Orthopedic Surgery.
We’ll be there and report on the results.
A ConforMIS spokesperson contacted us after this news short ran and offered the following comment:
“Variance in sizes is not patient-specific – it’s inventory. Studies have shown that 1 in 5 patients with a total knee replacement system are not satisfied with the results of their surgery[i] due to issues such as off-the-shelf implant shapes that do not match the patient’s anatomy resulting in residual pain,[ii]-[iii] functional limitations[iv] and a knee that does not feel natural.iv While Zimmer Holdings, Inc., and DePuy Synthes may claim to have introduced personalized implants, patients will only receive more generic size options versus a knee that is personalized to their anatomies. ConforMIS has the only offering of a 100% patient-specific knee implant system, the iTotal G2, in which both the knee implant and the surgical tools are designed for each patient while addressing the drivers of patient dissatisfaction.”
ConforMIS CEO Philipp Lang contacted us after this news short ran and offered the following comment:
“Variance in sizes is not patient-specific – it’s inventory. Studies have shown that 1 in 5 patients with a total knee replacement system are not satisfied with the results of their surgery[i] due to issues such as off-the-shelf implant shapes that do not match the patient’s anatomy resulting in residual pain,[ii]-[iii] functional limitations[iv] and a knee that does not feel natural.iv While Zimmer Holdings, Inc., and DePuy Synthes may claim to have introduced personalized implants, patients will only receive more generic size options versus a knee that is personalized to their anatomies. ConforMIS has the only offering of a 100% patient-specific knee implant system, the iTotal G2, in which both the knee implant and the surgical tools are designed for each patient while addressing the drivers of patient dissatisfaction.”