These 10 medtech companies put a lot into research

8. Stryker

R&D Spending: $971,000,000
Percentage of revenue: 6.5%
2020 overall ranking: 8

Stryker won FDA premarket approval for its Lifepak CR2 defibrillator featuring the LifelinkCentral AED program manager and launched it in the U.S. in April 2019. The Lifepak CR2 AED features new technology including CPRInsight, which allows users to continue chest compressions during ECG analysis and can improve survival outcomes.

In May, Stryker won FDA premarket approval for its Neuroform Atlas stent system intended for use in treating wide-neck, intracranial aneurysms in conjunction with embolic detachable coils. The system is a self-expanding nitinol stent intended for use in conjunction with metal coils to pack aneurysms within the brain. The stent is positioned across the aneurysm’s neck and is designed to hold metal coils and occlude the aneurysm.

Stryker also won FDA clearance for its Sahara lateral 3D expandable interbody implant system. Sahara Lateral is the first-ever 3D-printed lateral expandable fusion device designed to allow surgeons up to 30 degrees of sagittal spinal correction in skeletally mature patients. The implant is adjustable from a lateral approach intra-operatively or can adjust passively in a staged posterior approach after osteotomy.

Some products that were in R&D in 2019 and launched or upgraded in 2020 include the new Procuity wireless hospital bed, new Surpass Evolve Flow Diverter cobalt chromium flow diverter, updated Trevo NXT ProVue Retriever and the new AXS Vecta 74 aspiration catheter.

For the three months ended Sept. 30, 2020, Stryker reported spending $242 million on R&D, down from $246 million spent in the same quarter of 2019. For the first nine months of 2020, Stryker invested $729 million on R&D, up from the $717 million it reported spending for the same period of 2019.

The company’s Neuroform Atlas brain aneurysm stent system received an expanded indication from the FDA in August 2020.

Stryker inked a deal worth up to $30 million for the customized instrumentation technology developed by Conformis in October 2019, and Conformis has since completed the second of three milestones in the license and development agreement.Stryker completed its $4.7 billion acquisition of Wright Medical (NSDQ:WMGI) on Nov. 10, 2020.

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