Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1199901
21 DEVICES & IMPLANTS Stryker's acquisition of Wright Medical may face antitrust issues: 3 quick notes By Laura Dyrda N eedham & Company Senior Analyst Mike Mat- son reported Stryker's plan to acquire Wright Medical Group will face antitrust issues, ac- cording to a report from Seeking Alpha. Three quick notes: 1. The antitrust issues stem from the foot and ankle offer- ings, since Wright Medical focuses on the lower extremi- ties and small bones. 2. Larry Biegelsen, a senior analyst at Wells Fargo, thinks Stryker will divest Wright Medical's STAR ankle business, which has 70 percent share in the total ankle replace- ment market. 3. Premarket on Nov. 4, Wright Medical stock was up 31 percent while Stryker was down 3 percent. n Zimmer Biomet Q3 sales hit $1.1B, spine sales down 1.9%: 5 key points By Laura Dyrda Zimmer Biomet reported a net sales increase during the third quarter of 2019. Five key notes: 1. Net sales jumped 3 percent during the third quarter, hitting nearly $1.9 billion. 2. Quarterly net sales in the Americas were up 2.2 per- cent to $1.1 billion while the Asia Pacific market experi- enced a nearly 9 percent sales increase to $338 million. 3. Knee sales were up 3.8 percent worldwide to $652 million and hip sales increased 3.5 percent to $460 mil- lion. However, spine and craniomaxillofacial sales were down nearly 2 percent to $181 million. 4. For the nine months end, the company reported flat net sales at $5.8 billion. 5. Zimmer Biomet reported $578 million in operating cash flow and $425 million in free cash flow. It also paid down $330 million of debt. n MIS SI joint fusions to see 27% rate increase by CMS in 2020: 4 details By Laura Dyrda T he 2020 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule includes a significant increase for minimally invasive SI joint fusions. Four things to know: 1. CMS increased payment for CPT 27279 by 27 percent. e code covers minimally invasive SI joint fusion procedures. 2. As of Jan. 2, 2020, the work relative value units associated with the CPT code will jump from 9.03 to 12.13. 3. Overall unadjusted surgeon pay increased from $720 per proce- dure to $915. 4. CMS made the increase based on comments from surgeons across the U.S. at provided evidence on the work and effort needed for the procedure. e information here was gathered from an SI-Bone news release. n Biologica Technologies' ProteiOS is more than just a single growth factor or peptide, it's a cost- effective, soluble protein cocktail containing over 600 osteoinductive, chemotactic, angiogenic and mitogenic growth factors and peptides. It possesses the highest amount of non-recombinant BMP-2, 4, 6, 7, 9 along with the highest levels of non-recombinant PDGF- BB, VEGF, TBFβ-1, IGF-1, and HGF available on the market today. ProteiOS displays high growth factor and peptide binding and a long-term sustained release versus the high initial "burst release" of rhBMP-2. Last but certainly not least, ProteiOS has 'off the shelf' convenience with no refrigeration or special storage required. Website: www.biologicatechnologies.com Phone: (800) 667-6610 Email: info@biologicatech.com Biologica Technologies