Stryker reported strong performance by its robotic knee and hip replacement system, Mako, last year and is now ready to turn the corner with the technology, according to a report from Stryker's Vice President of Strategy and Investor Relations Katherine Owen during the 2019 earnings call, as transcribed by Seeking Alpha.
During the fourth quarter, Stryker sold 89 Mako robots, up from 54 for the same quarter in 2018. Globally, the company has around 860 robots installed with around 700 of those units being in the U.S. Mako procedures increased around 50 percent in the U.S. for the quarter to 36,000; during the full year of 2019, there were more than 114,000 Mako procedures performed.
Mako total knee procedures were up 66 percent to 24,000 procedures in the fourth quarter. For the full year, Mako total knees were up 66 percent to more than 75,000 procedures.
"Demand for Mako is being driven by the myriad of unique benefits of our robotic technology, multiple reconstruction applications and the ability to perform cementless knee [replacements]," said Ms. Owen.
Over the past month, Mako's partial knee indication was approved in Japan. "We now have nine Mako robots in Japan and continue to believe this represents a significant market opportunity," said Ms. Owen.
Demand for the company's 3D-printed cementless knee grew, with more than 36 percent of U.S. knee procedures being performed with the technology. There was a 40 percent growth in Mako hip procedures as well last year. Going forward, the company will not report on Mako results quarterly.
"As we are now six years since the acquisition and nearly five years since the initial launch of the total knee indication, we believe we have validated a strategic rationale and competitive advantage of Mako as witnessed by the roughly 600 basis points of U.S. knee market share that we have gained since 2013," said Ms. Owen. The company expects continued growth for Mako and Ms. Owen said the Mako order book "remains robust and supports our expectation for continued share gains in both hips and knees."