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With the announcement that Zimmer (ZMH) plans to acquire Biomet, the competitive dynamics in the orthopedic implant market have shifted. In general, we expect the reduction in competition should help the large, top-tier firms, including Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Zimmer, and Stryker (SYK).

With the increased use of total ankle arthroplasty worldwide and many available prosthesis options, foot and ankle surgeons have turned their attention to the best course for revising these prostheses. Component exchange is sometimes possible, as is re-arthroplasty.

Aratana Therapeutics, Inc. has entered into an agreement to develop and commercialize a novel stem cell therapy for dogs. The licensor, Vet-Stem, Inc., pioneered the use of adipose tissue (fat) sourced stem cell therapies for veterinary medicine.

After paying $60 million to Stryker Corporation in 2010 for the biologic product that has snake-bitten everyone who has attempted to commercialize the protein, Olympus announced on June 18, 2014 that it will close its 120-employee manufacturing plant in West Lebanon, New Hampshire, because it has been unable to find a buyer for the past four months.

Small Bone Innovations, Inc. (SBi) today announced that Stryker Corporation (NYSE:SYK) will acquire substantially all the assets of SBi in an all cash transaction for up to $375 million.

Emerging Markets Heat Up for Device Makers (Motley Fool) Want a deeper analysis? Purchase the downloadable PDF... 7 Disruptive Trends in Orthopedics With the medical device industry struggling for growth, leading companies have had to look elsewhere to power up stagnating sales.

In the medical device market, product development is the engine that never quits. Refinements to this evolving process have sought to increase efficiencies, speed time to market and improve the quality of clinical results. One important constant remains, however: the need for focused, timely intellectual property (IP) due diligence.

Researchers have found a correlation between the presence of biomarkers in the blood, known as micro RNAs (miRNAs), and the development of severe osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee or hip joint.

If you follow professional baseball, I am sure you have observed an alarming rate of pitchers who have underwent ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction (“Tommy John surgery”) already this year.

The FDA’s collective heads are in the clouds when it comes to “Big Data.” And the agency wants you to get on their cloud.

After five years in the making, the FDA is on a roll. Following the publication of the previous draft guidance on the use of social media for “post-marketing submissions for post marketing submissions of interactive promotional media“, the agency has published two new guidances of conduct of medical device and pharma companies in social media.

Medtronic revealed today that it was the target of a digital attack sometime in 2013, seeming to confirm rumors that circulated earlier this year regarding a hack of some of the medtech's top players.

More knees are being replaced in the U.S. than are hips and Peter B. Derman, M.D., MBA, an orthopedic surgery resident at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, wondered why. So he conducted a study and found that the increase in the number of overweight and obese people in the United States accounted for 95% of the higher demand for knee replacements.

Benvenue Medical, Inc., a developer of minimally invasive solutions for spine repair, announced it completed a $64 million round of financing. The spine company intends to use the proceeds to build its US commercial presence, scale up manufacturing, increase administrative functions to support overall corporate growth and provide working capital to fund growth in operating activities.

Smith & Nephew SN.LN -0.47% PLC has missed out on the bouquet again. Shares in the London-listed, Dublin-based maker of replacement joints dipped around 2% in morning trading Monday, after U.S. pacemaker specialist Medtronic Inc.MDT -1.12%said it was buying Smith & Nephew’s Dublin-based rival Covidien COV +16.98%PLC for $42.9 billion.

(Reuters) - U.S. medical device maker Medtronic Inc (MDT.N) said on Sunday it had agreed to buy Covidien Plc (COV.N) for $42.9 billion in cash and stock and move its executive base to Ireland in the latest transaction aiming for lower corporate tax rates abroad.

Today, when doctors suspect that a patient has a cardiac arrhythmia that could lead to a heart attack, they can implant a tiny cardiac monitor smaller than a AAA battery in the patient’s chest, directly over the heart. The company that makes that monitor, Medtronic, thinks the day will come when perfectly healthy people will be clamoring to have that gear inside them as well.

Medtronic's (NYSE: MDT ) June 6 analyst day was by no means light fare, as the company crammed quite a bit of information into more than seven hours. While action-oriented investors are likely disappointed that management's commentary would seem to suggest a bid for Smith & Nephew (NYSE: SNN ) is not too likely, management laid out a vision of an evolving global device market where Medtronic is likely to be among the few players with the scale to really cover all of the major bases.

In my role as the President and CEO of the Society of Physician Entrepreneurs (SoPE), I sometimes receive inquiries like this:
“Hi, Dr. Meyers. I was reading some of your posts on the SoPE website and social media, and was wondering if you wouldn’t mind taking time to read the enclosed business plan for an idea I have and whether you could give me some advice on where to find investors.”

MicroPort Orthopedics Inc. today announced it will expand its Arlington headquarters operations and invest $100 million over the next five years "in product design, manufacturing capability, and world-class training and education facilities."

New data from a joint replacement monitoring program and database at UMass Medical School shows there is an ideal time for typical patients to get the most out of a hip or knee replacement and that waiting too long will reduce the benefits of surgery.

Bloomberg reported on June 4, 2014 that Medtronic, Inc. is joining Stryker Corporation in evaluating a purchase of Smith & Nephew plc (S&N). Medtronic management quickly threw cold water on that report at a Wall Street analyst meeting on June 5.

Before scrubbing in on a recent Tuesday morning, Dr. Selene Parekh, an orthopedic surgeon here at Duke Medical Center, slipped on a pair of sleek, black glasses — Google Glass, the wearable computer with a built-in camera and monitor.