In recent years, we have seen an increase in acquisitions in the spine market. At the beginning of this year, we saw Neurostructures bought by Incite Innovations and we thought it would be a year with many acquisitions. However, it has been the opposite. As of December, only three spine companies have been acquired (Orthofix and Seaspine not included since it is a merger of equals). It surprises us since the natural tendency of this market is towards consolidation and therefore the acquisition of companies. On the other hand, we have seen an increase in strategic alliances aimed at completing the product portfolio or incorporating technology.
Below, I detail the acquisitions made as well as the strategic alliances made in 2022:
Acquisitions 2022:
- January 2022: NeuroStructures acquired by Incite Innovations:
- May 2022: Spinal Simplicity Acquires Intralink-Spine: Spinal Simplicity a medical device company, announced the acquisition of Intralink-Spine and its novel injectable spinal disc stabilization product.
- July 2022: Spineway acquires Spine Innovations a specialist in disc protheses: Spineway a specialist in innovative implants for the treatment of severe spine pathologies, announces the acquisition of 100% of the capital of the French company Spine Innovations, which specializes in cervical and lumbar disc prostheses.
- October 2022: Orthofix and SeaSpine to Combine in Merger of Equals to Create Leading Global Spine and Orthopedics Company
Strategic Alliances 2022:
- January 2022: Orthofix Announces Investment and Partnership with nView medical, Developer of Novel Imaging and Guidance Systems: Orthofix Medical Inc., a global medical device company with a spine and orthopedics focus, and nView medical, a Salt Lake City-based company developing surgical imaging and guidance systems enabled by artificial intelligence (AI), announced a partnership and investment agreement to jointly develop and co-market the innovative nView systems.
- February 2022: VySpine Announces Agreement with Oxford Performance Materials to Develop Unique Spinal Implants: VySpine, a spine innovation leader using differentiated materials and designs, announced that it has entered into a partnership agreement with Oxford Performance Materials (OPM), an industry leader in advanced polymer science and 3D printed orthopedic devices.
- May 2022: Tsunami Medical and Additive Surgical announce strategic alliance: Tsunami Medical Srl and Additive Surgical Pty Ltd announced a strategic alliance with regards to both manufacturing and sales of 3D printed Spinal implant technology in Australia and New Zealand.
- June 2022: SpineGuard Announces a New Partnership with Sorbonne, CNRS and Inserm to associate its DSG® Technology With Ultrasound and Serve Surgical Robots: SpineGuard an innovative company that deploys its DSG (Dynamic Surgical Guidance) sensing technology to secure and streamline the placement of bone implants, announced the launch of a new three-year collaboration program with two labs of Sorbonne University CNRS and Inserm: the ISIR (Institute for intelligent systems and robotics) and LIB (Laboratory for biomedical imaging).
- June 2022: eCential Robotics and ChoiceSpine Announce Long-Term Partnership to Enhance Robotic Spine Implant Surgery: eCential Robotics, a French growth company that designs, manufactures, and markets the first unified 2D/3D robotic imaging and surgical navigation system for bone surgery indications and ChoiceSpine LLC, a US privately-held spinal implant company, announced their long-term partnership to offer a common optimized solution.
- June 2022: Implanet Announces a Commercial, Technological and Financial Partnership With Sanyou Medical, a Chinese Manufacturer of Medical Devices for Spine Surgery: IMPLANET, a medical technology company specializing in vertebral implants, signed an agreement defining the principles of a strategic, technological and financial partnership project with Sanyou Medical, a Chinese manufacturer of medical devices
- July 2022: Oxford Performance Materials Announces Agreement with Fuse Medical to Develop New Spinal and Sports Medicine Implants:Oxford Performance Materials, Inc. (OPM), an industry leader in advanced polymer science and 3D printed orthopedic devices, announced today an agreement with Fuse Medical, Inc. (Fuse) a manufacturer and distributor of innovative medical devices, to develop new, world-class spinal, extremity and sports medicine implant product lines utilizing OPM’s patented OsteoFab® PEKK technology.
- August 2022: THINK Surgical and Curexo Announce Entry Into Development and Distribution Agreement: THINK Surgical, Inc., an innovator in the field of orthopedic surgical robots, announced its entry into a development and distribution agreement with Curexo, Inc., a medical robotics specialist company based in South Korea.
- September 2022: Omnia Medical and SpineGuard Announce a Strategic Alliance for Adult Spine Surgery in the United States: SpineGuard (FR0011464452 – ALSGD), an innovative company that deploys its DSG® (Dynamic Surgical Guidance) sensing technology to secure and streamline the placement of bone implants, and Omnia Medical, a medical device company focused on innovative solutions utilizing proven techniques, announced the signature of a co-development and exclusive distribution agreement for adult spine surgery in the United States.
- September 2022: Titan Medical Signs Definitive Agreement with Medtronic: Titan Medical Inc., a medical device company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative surgical technologies for single access robotic-assisted surgery (RAS), announced the signing of a Definitive Agreement with Medtronic plc (“Medtronic”) (NYSE: MDT), a global leader in healthcare technology.
- October 2022: Captiva Spine announces an exclusive strategic partnership with REMEX Medical for Spine Navigation and Robotics, adding to their expanding product portfolio: Captiva Spine , a medical device organization located in Jupiter, Florida, announced its long-term exclusive strategic partnership with REMEX Medical, a developer of advanced navigation and robotics technologies located in Taichung, Taiwan; for real-time 3D spine navigation with future developments in practical robotic solutions.
- October 2022: Safe Group Announces Strategic Agreements with Wenzel Spine: Safe, a company specializing in the design, manufacturing, and marketing of single-use technologies for spinal surgeries, announced the signature of a distribution agreement of Safe Orthopaedics products in the USA by Wenzel Spine and a manufacturing agreement between Wenzel Spine and Safe Medical.
- December 2022: Spineart and eCential Robotics Announce a Partnership to Co-Develop Spine Surgery Applications and Co-Market the eCential Robotic’s Open Robotic Surgery Platform: Spineart, a leading provider of spine surgery implants and eCential Robotics, a growth MedTech company that designs and produces an open system unifying robotics, surgical navigation, and 2D/3D robotic imaging, announced they entered a long-term collaboration agreement.