At first ;glance, the market for replacement hip and knee joints might seem like a tiny market hardly worth chasing.
But David Sekel points out that growth in this sector is outperforming virtually any manufacturing sector. And the prospects are good, or alarming, depending how you view it.
« About 50 per cent of people over 55 years of age will need a hip replacement, » he said.
Mr Sekel is managing director of Portland Orthopaedics and was in Melbourne to promote the company’s $5 million float and imminent Australian Stock Exchange listing.
« Replacements are growing at 13 per cent a year, and the baby boomers are now entering the market, » he said.
Mr Sekel said the expected longer life span of the boomers was important to Portland because it was a leader in the design of « revision » hip joints used to replace the original or « primary » artificial hip.
The primary artificial hip was literally hammered into place in the femur and, when it needed replacement, the bone was generally not able to accept another hammering, Mr Sekel said. His father, a surgeon, conceived of a hip joint that is screwed into place in the femur, reaching further down the bone canal to achieve a stronger grip.
« Initially, one hip replacemert was all that was needed as surgeons reckoned the new joint would last longer than the patient. But not any more, » Mr Sekel said.
Apart from living longer, people were now heavier, which made them more prone to osteoarthritis, he said. And if they were looking after themselves and exercising a lot, that wore out joints faster, too: « The surgeons get them both ways. »
Australia’s boomers had started asking for hip replacements in their 50s so they could get back to golf or skiing.
In Portland’s largest market, the US, people were now presenting for their first hip replacements in their late 40s, he said.
Portland has already had 1500 of its revision hip joints implanted and Mr Sekel said it had managed to crack the lucrative US market: « We have the support of professors and department heads at Yale University, UCLA and Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles. »
The cash raised with the prospectus will be used to finance a move into revision knee joints, using the same patented « double thread » design that stops the joints coming loose. Portland will also move into primary hip joints, offering a more adjustable design than its rivals.
SOURCE: http://www.theage.com.au
Original text can found at http://www.theage.com.au/news/business/hip-hip-hooray-for-a-booming-market/2005/12/05/1133631201312.html
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