Where are the moon shots today ?

In this decade, we just don’t see orthopedic startups taking moonshots like the startups in the 1990s. More startups in the 2020’s are focusing on incremental missions, not moon missions. Where is the next Kyphon today ?

Why is this?

One possible explanation is increased competition. With more players entering the market and the barriers-to-entry becoming lower, startups are pressured to focus on short-term goals and achieving incremental progress rather than pursuing long-shot moonshots.

Additionally, investors may be less willing to fund high-risk ventures in today’s economy, preferring instead to invest in more established companies or those with a proven track record of success.

Furthermore, with rapidly evolving technology and changing regulatory environments, startups may feel that taking on big risks is too unpredictable and may not provide the same returns as more conservative approaches.

Just try to wrap your head around an historical moon shot startup, Kyphon.

1996 – First funding
1998 – FDA approves balloon kyphoplasty, but not the bone cement filler.
2000 – $6M sales
2001 – $36M sales
2002 – $76M
2003 – $131M
2004 – $306M (FDA approves the bone cement filler)
2005 – $408M
2007 – acquired for $4.2B

A quick walk through the Kyphon origin story.

Kyphon invented a minimally invasive surgical procedure called kyphoplasty to treat spinal fractures. Here’s the origin story of the company and the key people who built it.

Kyphon was founded in 1994 by Richard Mott, an engineer, and Dr. Gary Sabins. The idea for the company came when Mott’s mother-in-law suffered a painful vertebral compression fracture and was told by doctors that she would have to live with the pain. Mott, who had experience in the medical device industry, thought there must be a better way to treat this condition.

Mott partnered with Sabins, an interventional radiologist who had experience treating spinal fractures with a similar procedure, and together they developed a device that could be used to inject a bone cement into the fractured vertebrae to stabilize the bone and relieve pain.

The first product Kyphon developed was called the KYPHON Balloon Catheter, which was used to create a void in the collapsed vertebrae that could be filled with the bone cement. The procedure, which came to be known as kyphoplasty, was less invasive and had a shorter recovery time than traditional spinal surgery.

Kyphon went public in 2002 and was acquired by Medtronic in 2007 for $4.2 billion. Sabins left the company in 2004, but Mott remained with Kyphon as its CEO until the acquisition.

Where are the new Kyphon’s of today?

Read the article on OrthoStreams – https://orthostreams.com/2023/03/where-are-the-new-kyphons-of-today/