Latin American Spinal Implant Market to See Steady Growth Through 2017

Made up of Argentina, Brazil and Mexico, represented some of the fastest growing spine markets globally and are expected to reach a combined value of more than $457 million by 2017.

Overall market growth largely has been fueled by the aging population in Latin America, emerging technologies within the industry and increasing access to healthcare in these budding economies. The fastest growing area within this market was the minimally invasive surgery (MIS) segment, because of improved clinical outcomes, reduced surgical times for these procedures and increased access.
Market growth is expected to remain steady as access to spinal surgery becomes more commonplace in Latin America. As of 2010, local competitors have dominated many segments of the Latin American spinal implant market. Local Brazilian competitors in particular, represented more than 23 percent of the overall market. In particular, the vertebroplasty segment is dominated by companies that operate on a regional or local level.

Aging Population & Emerging Technologies Drive Growth

Growth in the Latin American spinal implant market is expected to remain steady, and largely will be driven by increasing access to healthcare, an aging population and emerging technologies within the industry. By 2030, the number of people age 60 and older in Latin America will be two to three times as large as in the year 2000, due to improving access to and quality of medical care. Because of this, orthopedic markets, including the spinal implant market, are expected to expand significantly. In particular, growth in fusion and non-fusion spinal implant markets is expected.

Innovative devices and new surgical techniques, such as those designed to improve spinal fusion procedures or those offering viable non-fusion alternatives, will fuel the Latin American spinal implant market. Devices classified as non-fusion represent the bulk of the technological innovation expected to drive the market. This market will increase, as non-fusion devices such as artificial discs tend to be more costly than traditional fusion/fixation devices. Furthermore, future developments will create new markets altogether, such as nucleus replacements, which were still in their infancy in Latin America in 2010. Nucleus replacements are non-fusion devices which can prevent or delay the need for spinal fusion.

In addition, improvements to traditional fusion implants such as fixation or interbody devices are continually under development and will drive the market by increasing surgeon and patient confidence, resulting in greater demand for and acceptance of these procedures. These implant developments include bioresorbable materials and better MIS fusion systems.

Rapid Growth Expectedfor MIS Interbody Fusion

Interbody devices are designed to replace the intervertebral discs of the spine, which enhances stability in the region and promotes fusion between the two vertebral bodies. These devices are threaded, allowing them to be used in conjunction with bone graft material. Over time, the packed graft is replaced by natural bone, forming a solid piece. Traditionally, interbody devices were implanted through open surgery; however, a growing number of these devices now are being implanted using MIS techniques. MIS techniques reduce muscle and tissue damage at the surgical site and decrease complication frequencies as well as intraoperative times. Clinical outcomes largely have been positive, further favoring the use of MIS techniques compared with open procedures.

In Latin America, MIS interbody procedures will be the most rapidly growing MIS segment, increasing at a compound annual growth rate of more than 20 percent by 2017. The major driving force behind this market growth is the perceived physiological benefits to the patient, which include reduced trauma, shorter hospital stays, lower post-operative medication use and earlier return to normal life. Rapid growth in the MIS interbody fusion market also can be attributed to the aggressive expansion of the lateral lumbar interbody fusion (LLIF) and the minimally invasive transforaminal interbody fusion segments. LLIF, in particular, has contributed to overall growth due to its high procedural selling price, safe and efficacious approach and large implant base. The MIS interbody segment is expected to increasingly cannibalize revenue from traditional spine procedures and drive the Latin American spinal implant market as a whole. Medtronic Inc., Stryker Corp. and DePuy Spine led the MIS interbody fusion market in 2010.

Local Competitors Dominate Vertebroplasty in Brazil and Argentina

Percutaneous vertebroplasty is a minimally invasive procedure used to treat vertebral compression fractures of the spinal column. During a vertebroplasty procedure, bone cement is injected through a needle into the damaged or collapsed vertebral body. The bone cement increases density in the vertebral body, helping to stabilize it, thus preventing further collapse. Approximately 90 percent of vertebroplasty cases result in a significant alleviation of pain.

Many regional and local manufacturers are present in the Latin American vertebroplasty market. These companies offer vertebroplasty kits consisting of a simple syringe and bone cement atextremely low prices. The low cost and high availability of vertebroplasty kits, paired with high rates of pain relief has resulted in ubiquitous use of the technique in Latin America.

In 2010, local companies held more than 70 percent of the vertebroplasty market in Brazil and Argentina. Typically,vertebroplasty devices produced by companies in those countries consist only of a medical syringe and bone cement. As a result, these procedures are low in price. Biomecanica is one of the larger Brazilian vertebroplasty companies that has had success with its vertebroplasty kit. Meanwhile, GMReis is a strong Brazilian vertebroplasty company that has hadsuccess with its BPS-A and BPS-P vertebroplasty systems.

Kamran Zamanian, Ph.D., president and CEO of iData Research Inc., has spent more than 20 years working in the market research industry. Zamanian is a founding partner of iData Research. He received his Bachelor of Science in engineering from the University of Dundee, and received his Master of Science and doctoral degrees from the University of Manchester in market research and technology. iData Research is an international market research and consulting firm focused on providing market intelligence for the medical device, dental and pharmaceutical industries Also contributing to this report was James Cummins, B. Sc.

Additional Information

The information contained in this article is taken from a report published by iDataResearch entitled “Latin American Markets for Spinal Implants and VCF 2011.” Also available are European, U.S. and Asia-Pacific editions. For more information and a free synopsis, please contact iData Research at: [email protected].