By Arundhati Parmar
Stryker executives believe that differentiated technology, not consolidation, is the path to win the future and the firm’s MAKO’s robotics platform is one such novel technology.
Management and employees from the top orthopedic companies were out in full force at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons in Las Vegas, that concludes Saturday.
But judging from foot traffic, it appeared that Stryker may have been the winner.
Why the outsize interest compared to competitors?
Surgeons are showing an increasing interest in its MAKO robotics platform on which Stryker’s total hip implant is now available. In a bold and unexpected move, Stryker acquired Mako Surgical in 2013 for $1.65 billion.
At AAOS in Las Vegas, executives from the Kalamazoo, Michigan company were demonstrating the product in a private, covered portion of its mammoth booth at the Sands/Expo Convention Center.
“We have had such a tremendous volume of people through our MAKO private area at the back,” said Stuart Simpson, vice president and general manager of Stryker’s reconstructive commercial group, in an interview at AAOS Thursday. “We had over 200 physicians come to our MAKO event last night and many of them are competitor surgeons who really want to take a look at this technology.”
While rivals like Zimmer and Biomet, and to a smaller extent Wright Medical and Tornier have decided to consolidate against market pressures and achieve scale, Stryker seems to believe than technological innovation will be the path to success. Or at least that is what the company is communicating pubicly after its interest to merge with U.K.-based Smith & Nephew was leaked compromising any potential deal.
