“With favorable demographics and an active population, Europe represents a significant market opportunity for MedShape products.”… so how can we get hold of them?
In short
Here at medlatest it’s our goal to improve uptake of tomorrow’s medical device technologies through improving communications about new devices and technologies with clinicians outside the Americas. Every day we see great technologies, some new, some newly published, some newly approved, some still in research.
Yet as exciting as this is, the frustrated clinician in us sometimes pulls our hair out at the lack of communications outside USA. Take the example of what looks like a promising new product from MedShape, CE marked in early 2011 and now reported in a press release. But where is it?
ACL Tibial Fixation
ExoShape® is indeed a clever piece of kit, utilising a form of PEEK (Polyether-Ether Ketone… a plastic material), called PEEK Altera® that can actually be memory-shaped so that it changes configuration once in situ. This means that by driving an insert into a pre-compressed sheath, the overall device can be expanded to more tightly fit a tunnel.
The obvious target for this is ACL reconstruction: Insert the tendon graft into the tibial tunnel, then using the delivery device slide in the MedShape ExoShape Sheath so that it orients correctly with the graft fibres, then tap in the insert to form a secure unit with the ACL graft compressed in its tunnel. Clever stuff in the world of ACL fixation, which has seen all kinds of solutions over the years. It’s like an interference screw, but without the need for the screw and the inherent risk of graft damage.
Information please
So we come to the press release and the company website where one might expect to find such a promising technology shouting about itself.
Is it available in Europe?… well it’s clearly been CE marked, but that doesn’t mean we can buy it yet.
When do you plan to launch in Europe?
European distributors?
Who do I go to for Eu information?
Missed opportunity or keeping your competitive powder dry?
If this is one of those times when a company focuses so hard on USA it completely forgets the world outside, then that’s a shame. If the company has distributors all over Europe and a CE marked product, it’s a communications opportunity missed isn’t it?
Source: MedShape
ExoShape and PEEK Altera are registered trademarks of MedShape, Inc
published: January 20, 2012 in: Launches / Withdrawals, medlatest Editorial, Orthopaedics, Regulatory, Sports