British-based Smith & Nephew decided they had to have the NovoStitch Pro and, in January, concluded their deal to acquire the device’s creator company Ceterix for up to $105 million. “We are excited by the growth opportunities of the NovoStitch Pro at Smith & Nephew and are proud of the impact our technology has made in developing the meniscal repair market,” Justin Saliman, MD, founder and chief medical officer at Ceterix, said in a release.
The Novostitch Pro represents an opportunity for Smith & Nephew to expand their product line. According to their press release, the device is “highly complementary” to S&P’s FAST FIX 360 meniscal repair system. It is a unique system that allows surgeons to repair meniscal tears arthroscopically horizontal, radial, complex, bucket handle and root tears that cannot be addressed by other repair devices.
In the United States, more than 1.2 million knee surgeries are done every year to repair meniscal tears. Of those, only 15 to 20 percent can be repaired, rather than removal. Smith & Nephew predict that the Novostitch Pro can double this number in the medium term.
“NovoStitch Pro is an outstanding technology that addresses an unmet clinical need. We are delighted to add this device to our sports medicine portfolio and are looking forward to the opportunities that come with it,” Brad Cannon, president of sports medicine and ENT at Smith & Nephew, said in the release.
Smith & Nephew is a medical device developer with orthopedics, wound management, sports medicine and ENT product lines on the market. With 15,000 employees and a presence in in more than 100 countries, they had annual sales in excess of $4.7 billion in 2017.
Ceterix was founded in 2010 by Dr. Justin Saliman and serves as the company’s chief medical officer and director. The California-based company specializes in development of surgical tools using a suturing technology to create stitch patterns that were previously impossible to sew. As of January 22, 2019, they were bought-out and began operating as a subsidiary of Smith & Nephew. The deal includes an initial payment of $50 million paid by S&P with the potential for an additional $55 million paid over the next five years, dependent on financial performance.
