Report: Increased Bone and Joint Disease Driving Regenerative Medicine Market

According to a new report by Global Industry Analysts Inc. (GIA), the rising incidence of bone & joint diseases is driving a demand for regenerative medicine. Regenerative medicine is an emerging multidisciplinary field involving research as well as clinical applications intended to repair, replace, and regenerate cells, tissues as well as organs for restoring or establishing normal function. Such technologies hold promise for a number of medical conditions resulting from age, damage, congenital defects or diseases. One of the notable areas exhibiting rapid acceptance is orthopedics, as regenerative medicine in this field of healthcare promises significant benefits in the treatment of disabling orthopedic disorders. Current therapeutic strategies for repair and regeneration of bone involve the use of various types of graft materials such as autogenous bone, allogeneic bone, demineralised bone matrices, and a wide variety of synthetic biomaterials such as ceramics, metals, composites and polymers.

The market for bone grafts and bone graft substitutes is expected to witness healthy growth in the coming years, supported by aging population, increasing prevalence of arthritic conditions such as osteoporosis and osteoarthritis, growing number of orthopedic surgeries, advances in bone graft materials, and development of innovative products. Autograft, a graft taken from the patient, is considered to be an ideal bone graft procedure as it includes properties such as osteoconductivity, osteoinductivity and osteogenicity that assist in bone formation. As an alternative, allografts, grafts taken from a donor, are widely employed, as they eliminate the need for an additional harvesting procedure. Allografts and autografts account for a major share of bone graft procedures performed worldwide. However, challenges related to procurement of cells along with the difficulty in harvesting sufficient quantity of cells has culminated in the increasing use of synthetic bone graft substitutes as well as resorbables. Synthetic bone grafts are increasingly being used in bone graft procedures as they are as effective as autografts without the pain and inconvenience associated with the traditional graft procedures.

GIA’s report, titled “Regenerative Medicine: A Global Strategic Business Report,” states that the United States represents the largest regenerative medicine market worldwide. Asia-Pacific ranks as the fastest growing market with a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.8% over the analysis period. With relatively higher economic growth than developed economies, emerging countries in the Asia-Pacific region are optimally positioned to drive global growth in the regenerative medicine market. China and India in particular are witnessing rapid growth supported by increased government spending on healthcare programs and favorable economic climate. Bone replacements represent the largest product market with growth supported by rising incidence of degenerative intervertebral disc diseases, high prevalence of arthritis and other orthopedic disorders and increase in spinal fusions in private healthcare. Tissue Replacements rank as the fastest growing application sector for regenerative medicine in bone and joint applications.

Global Industry Analysts is a market research company based in San Jose, Calif.