A Pioneering Material in Soft Tissue Fixation Goes to Stryker

Last week, Stryker announced the signing of a definitive agreement to acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of Artelon. The deal's value is rumored to be $250 M. 

Why is Artelon such a big deal?

Internal Brace initiated the market for augmentation of lateral ankle reconstructions using a first-generation tape material. Artelon, launched in 2017, evolved the ligament augmentation market with its the proprietary woven synthetic fiber Flexband. Adoption was swift due to its physiologic advantage and easy to use kits. With ligament augmentation becoming standard for many surgeons and consistent year-on-year growth, Artelon grabbed market share and caught the attention of foot and ankle leader Stryker. 

Ligament augmentation players

Artelon with Flexband, Arthrex with Internal Brace, Conmed with BioBrace, and perhaps Zimmer Biomet with Embody are the key players in the market. The talking points are on strength, elasticity, and in some cases, the delivery of a collagen scaffold. With Artelon now supported by the sales force at Stryker, expect to see a push in favor of Artelon.