DePuy Gets First-Mover Advantage in Artificial Disk Market

Originally Published MX November/December 2004

BUSINESS NEWS

It seems like a long time ago, but it's been less than two years since executives at Cordis Corp. (Miami Lakes, FL), a Johnson & Johnson company, astonished industry analysts by achieving almost lightning-quick reimbursement coverage determination, regulatory approval, and launch of the company's Cypher drug-eluting stent, the first such product approved for the U.S. market.

In October, DePuy Spine (Raynham, MA), another J&J company, became the first to receive U.S. approval for an artificial spinal disk, an achievement that has been the target of more than a dozen orthopedics companies worldwide. Artificial replacements are commonly used in hips and knees, but DePuy's Charité artificial disk is the first such device to receive FDA approval. The approval permits the artificial disk to be implanted only in patients who have degenerative disk disease and who have had no relief from back pain after at least six months of nonsurgical treatment.