Author(s):

Jiyu Zhang

Introduction:

The European market for orthopedic biomaterials is being driven primarily by an expanding population of physically active, aging Europeans who are more likely to suffer from osteoarthritis (OA), fractures, degenerative disc disease, and hip and knee conditions. The European hyaluronic acid (HA) viscosupplementation market is favorably affected by both the aging and highly active demographic, as well as by expanding indications for HA viscosupplementation treatments. Additionally, the European HA viscosupplementation market is shifting toward shorter treatment regimens; the convenience of undergoing the procedure once rather than in multiple visits will attract more patients over the forecast period. The market will, however, be limited by intense price competition and reimbursement challenges, leading to depressed average selling prices (ASPs) and lower revenues. The bone graft substitute (BGS) market will be driven by increasing surgeon and patient awareness of the advantages of these materials over autograft; however, strong cost consciousness among European hospitals will continue to hinder the growth of this market. Some hospitals will continue to use the patient’s own bone instead of a BGS because autograft use has no associated material cost. The European knee cartilage repair market will benefit from growing incidence rates of OA in Europe, but will be impeded by the lack of reimbursement for certain treatments in some of the countries covered. The adoption of Europe-wide regulatory approval of tissue-engineered products at the end of 2008 will spur knee cartilage repair market growth toward the end of the forecast period.

Questions Answered in This Report:

  *   1-injection HA viscosupplementation products are growing in popularity around the globe. How will the adoption of 1-injection products vary among the European countries? Why is the adoption of 1-injection products increasing in general? Which competing regimens will be most impacted by the rising popularity of 1-injection products?

  *   The various benefits of different BGS materials over autograft are becoming increasingly recognized. Which BGS materials will experience the fastest growth in each country? What is driving the adoption of certain materials over others in the countries covered? How will the changing product mix and fluctuating ASPs affect the overall European BGS market through 2014?

  *   At the end of 2008, a new Europe-wide framework standardized tissue-engineered products and centralized the regulatory and scientific requirements for these therapies. This will boost the autologous chondrocyte implantation (ACI) market toward the end of the forecast period because all existing products in the market, as well as those entering it, are now required to undergo a centralized marketing authorization procedure, ensuring not only safe and high-quality products throughout Europe, but also opening up markets that previously had strict legislation concerning tissue-engineered products. How will the introduction of this regulatory framework affect ACI treatment volumes in they countries discussed? What impact will this regulatory framework have on other knee cartilage repair procedures in Europe?

Scope:

Regions covered: Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UK

Segmentation: Our analysis uses the following segmentation of the market:

• HA viscosupplementation
  • By segment (1-, 3-, and 5-injection)
  • By application (knee, shoulder, hip, and other)
• BGS
  • By application (trauma surgery, joint revision and reconstruction, thoracolumbar and cervical spinal fusion, and craniomaxillofacial surgery)
  • By material (autograft-only, synthetics, demineralized bone matrices, growth factors, xenografts, nonproprietary allografts)
• Knee cartilage repair
  • Debridement
  • Microfracture/debridement
  • ACI
  • Synthetic implants
  • Osteochondral autografts
  • Osteochondral allografts
  • Cell-free technologies

Market forecast features: Based on primary research with industry professionals, we use our proprietary forecasting model to provide an in-depth examination of current and future trends in procedure volumes, ASPs, and market values over a 7-year period (2007–2013).

Competitive analysis: We provide a detailed analysis of the competitive landscape in the market, as well as market shares and qualitative discussions of the leading competitors in each market segment.