Much to the amazement of most orthopedic analysts, nine-year old Treace Medical created a $1.4 billion valued business treating foot and ankle problems (bunions, specifically).
Which is not to minimize either Treace Medical or the problem of bunions—but more than a few orthopedic company executives must have scratched their heads saying, “How did we miss that billion dollar market?”
Now comes Artelon with a novel treatment for ankle instability and other soft tissue foot and ankle problems.
Could Artelon be the next Treace Medical?
Artelon Is Targeting the #1 Reason for an MSK ER Visit
“Ankle sprains are the number one reason for emergency room visits in the United States, and up to 20 percent of those patients will develop chronic instability after these injuries,” explained Artelon CEO Aaron Smith.
(A $2 billion market).
“While traditional surgical procedures can mitigate ankle instability, patients endure a long recovery period and can still have residual pain or instability over the long term.”
The number of doctor visits for severe ankle sprains is about the same as the number of doctor visits for severe bunions.
Who Is Artelon?
Artelon’s core technology was invented in the 1990’s by orthopedic surgeon Lars Peterson, M.D., Ph.D., known as “the father of autologous chondrocyte implantation.”
It’s a “Dynamic Matrix technology” which is based on Artelon’s proprietary polymeric bio-textile.
The strength and biocompatibility of the material make it well suited for musculoskeletal (MSK) soft tissue reconstruction. The Dynamic Matrix mimics the natural mechanical and biological properties of healing ligament tissue and, in clinical studies, demonstrated an ability to protect the surgical repair during early healing while also restoring the mechanics of motion and supporting regenerating tissue (it dissolves over five to six years).
Dr. Peterson’s biomaterial has now been used successfully in over 60,000 patients.
In 2017, Aaron Smith joined Artelon as CEO and shortly thereafter, relocated the company to Marietta, Georgia.
Smith had previously served as general manager and co-founder of Amniox Medical. Before that he was senior director, Extremities for Wright Medical. Prior to Wright Medical, Smith worked at Spinal Concepts, Xomed Surgical Products and AcroMed. He is a biomedical engineer by training and attended Case Western Reserve University.
Having spent nearly 20 years in the foot and ankle market, Smith was well aware of latent customer needs in the ankle instability market and, leveraging Dr. Peterson’s invention, refocused Artelon’s efforts there.
Under Smith’s leadership, Artelon’s mission is clear—improve joint stability and kinematics through novel soft tissue reconstructive products and procedures.
Investors like what they see and earlier this year they put $20 million into the company to fund expansion into market to treat—as CEO Smith noted earlier—“the number one reason for emergency room visits in the United States.”
Artelon’s current products include Flexband® SOLO and Flexband® MULTI products for reinforcement of soft tissue repairs. The products are most commonly used in the foot and ankle, but are also used in knee or upper extremity cases. The Flexband family of products is used in cases where soft tissue is repaired by suture or suture anchors, or during tendon repair surgery including reinforcement of rotator cuff, patellar, Achilles, biceps, or quadriceps tendons.
Broad FDA Clearances
This past June (2023), the FDA cleared Artelon’s products for a broad range of orthopedic indications, specifically:
- reinforcement of rotator cuff,
- patellar tendon,
- Achilles tendon,
- Biceps tendon,
- quadriceps tendons,
- medial collateral ligament,
- lateral collateral ligament,
- spring ligament,
- deltoid ligament,
- ulnar collateral ligament or
- other tendons or extra-articular ligaments.”
According to the FDA clearance document, Artelon’s soft tissue repair products (FlexBand®, FlexPatch®, and FlexBand® Plus.) “are also intended for reinforcement of soft tissues that are repaired by suture or other fixation devices during tendon and ligament repair surgery.”
“This new regulatory clearance establishes a unique and specific framework of U.S. marketing claims for reinforcement of ligaments,” said CEO Aaron Smith earlier this year.
Artelon’s Key Point of Differentiation
Again, quoting from CEO Aaron Smith, “Recent innovation in our space has been mostly focused on fixation of ligaments to bone, but little has been done to address failure of the ligament tissues themselves, which are often diseased and may lead to poor surgical outcomes.”
“Artelon is currently a leader in the large and growing U.S. ankle instability market. This new set of claims permits us to take on a multitude of unmet clinical challenges in the ankle and other joints and dramatically expand our addressable market.”
Band Wagon Effect
Treace Medical showed investors that the market for surgical care of foot and ankle problems is an underdeveloped, underappreciated opportunity. In just a handful of years, Treace created a $1.4 billion company treating bunions surgically.
Artelon has all the signs of being the next billion dollar musculoskeletal company—notably, in the same foot and ankle market as Treace Medical Concepts.
Vensana Capital, the lead investor in the latest $20 million round, clearly agrees. Kirk Nielsen, a Vensana Capital principal said, “Vensana is excited to join the Artelon team and to support their efforts to establish themselves as a technology and market leader.”
Greg Banker another of Vensana Capital’s principals added, “Artelon is focused on bringing value to patients and healthcare providers through a platform that enhances soft tissue repair while restoring stability and motion.”
Stay tuned for sure.
