ADR/TRDs Availability in EU countries

Rajesh · #1 (**permalink**) 07-22-2007, 01:57 PM

Hello All,
I am a student of Business and as part of my project I am writing a report on the impact of ADR/TDR on the spinal fusion procedures.From my research i came to know that about 8,000 such devices have been implanted worldwide and the device was available in Europe since about 20 years.I found from this forum that the ADR implants are very few in countires like Canada/Austalia etc. I was curious to know whther the implants are availble in all European countries and what is the incidence of these implants comared to the fusion procedures?

I look forward to more info in this forum.

Thanks and Regards
Rajesh

mmglobal · #2 (**permalink**) 07-22-2007, 10:07 PM

Rajesh, welcome to the forum. I only know the impact from the patient perspective... not the business perspective. I know people who've gotten ADR done in several different EU countries. ProDisc was developed in France. Charite was developed in East Berlin with the first implantation 5 years before the Berlin wall fell. (See the tennis video on the GPN website... first patient from 1984 is still playing tennis twice a week.) Good luck with your project. Will you share it with us when it is done?

All the best,

Mark

Poncho · #3 (**permalink**) 07-22-2007, 10:41 PM

Rajesh,

I am from a health care background and just graduated with an MBA - plus I am a Prodisc recipient.

Many of us in the United States are insulated in regards to the medical device industry in foreign countries. I think it has something to do with regulations in regards to marketing restrictions on products that are not FDA approved ~yet~. - Okay, there are a couple ADR devices approved for one level replacement only in the US.

My suggestion would be to look up those medical device companies that have gone public - Medtronic, Synthes et al who produce these product lines. They should have some sort of annual report with a balance sheet and income statement on their websites that should give you some insights. There should be something in regards to their competition and issues that have affected sales. - Domestic and world wide... - In some cases, they may discuss how one product line is cannabolizing the other. For example Synthes has fusion hardware for the spine that competes against the motion preservation device (Prodisc).

Hope this helps.

I hope to see the outcome / conclusion of your project.

Sincerely,
Poncho

Rajesh · #4 (**permalink**) 07-23-2007, 03:36 PM

Hello Poncho,
Thank you for your response.

I have looked into the annual reports of the top three comanies in the soine non fusion business and did not find any information except for some top line info on the product categories.Also talking to the reps in the company did not work out because of their company policy.

I know for sure that TDR/ADR were launched in the Europe a lot earlier than 2004,However i believe the implants were few and mainly for research/trial purpose.I wanted to know whether the implants were/are available in all EU countries or only in the top 5 like France,Germany,Spain,Italy,UK.

Best Regards

Rajesh

mmglobal · #5 (**permalink**) 07-23-2007, 09:01 PM

Between 1984 and 1988, the SB Charite' disc was implanted on a small scale by the developers, Shellnack and Buettner-Janz in East Berlin. When the SB Charite' III began in 1988, the developers along with the Link corporation (My discs are called Link SB Charite' III's) were able to generate more broad appeal. Zeegers and others began in 88 or 89 and implanted mainstream throught the 90's. When I began my research in 2000, there were 3500 Charite's implanted worldwide and Zeegers had done 700 of them and was far and away the most experienced ADR surgeon in the world. At that time, there were 400 ProDiscs implanted worldwide and Bertagnoli had the lion's share at 100 and was already recognized as a leader in the field.

Many of the European doctors pioneered spine arthroplasty with mainstream use in their practices. If you discover the articles that show 10, 12, 15 year follow-up, the authors David, Mayer and others were there too.

Mark

Poncho · #6 (**permalink**) 07-24-2007, 12:26 AM

Ragesh,

Hummm - At my school online library, they had a database called "Datamonitor". These reports would also give information regarding the competitive landscape / industry presence internationally. It would give a complete SWOT analysis and compare financials - etc.

I have since graduated and do not have access anymore. However, it was helpful. Do you have this listed as an option through your school library?