|
Joint replacements are a major dimension of the orthopedics specialty, but they may be replaced in about 15 years by biological products that stimulate tissue and bone growth, according to a leading prognosticator.
"We will be a little in the 'Star Trek' era, potentially," said Paul Olson, director of Viscogliosi Bros. LLC, a New York investment bank that specializes in orthopedics investment. He spoke recently at an orthopedic design and technology conference.
The orthopedics specialty and its associated prosthetics manufacturing industry, with their heavy reliance upon the use of titanium pins, screws, plates, bars and entire artificial joints to repair bone and joint problems, will soon become the most revolutionized branch of medicine, Olson said. The cause of this will be the influence of biological materials.
"As the technology evolves, we're able to treat disease at early stages and treat end-stage disease better," he said. "[Biologics] will eat into [the number of] minimally invasive and joint replacement procedures."
He predicted that, as biological treatments develop, the public will come to view orthopedic procedures as less and less daunting. People, he said, will even come to have them done as casually as a tooth filling.
But to come to this point, he continued, firms that make the new products must find ways to simplify biologically based procedures in order to gain widespread surgeon acceptance of them.
And to continue their innovation, the companies must also strive to find new venture capital financing, which has dried up in the present contracting economy. But he said he expects some venture capitalists to come back to the market soon.
"We actually would expect some of this [venture capital funding] to return, but given the volume of the last several years, you have to ask yourself if this is a bubble," he said.
Related Stories