ZimVie, Zimmer Biomet's spine and dental spinoff, has officially made its exit from the spine market after a tumultuous year, selling the business to global investment firm H.I.G. Capital.
Here is a timeline of events leading up to ZimVie's spine market exit:
May 2023: In the first quarter of 2023, ZimVie saw an 8.1% year-over-year drop in spine sales and a 4.1% decrease in total third-party net sales compared to 2022.
Less than a week after the first quarter results were published, ZimVie announced plans to lay off 5% of its global workforce in an effort to save $17 million to $20 million in annualized net savings by 2024.
July 2023: ZimVie saw an 11% rise in its stock amid rumors of takeover interest.
August 2023: In the second quarter of 2023, ZimVie saw a 7.8% decrease year-over-year in spine sales, which it attributed to "continued competitive pressures in the spine market" and the company exiting spine product activity in China.
November 2023: Its third quarter spine sales remained down, dropping by $10.6 million from the year prior.
While ZimVie's spine line faced a challenging 2023 financially, the company also had several tech milestones that year, Becker's reported. Its vertebral body tethering system was used in more than 2,000 cases as of Oct. 24. Its Mobi-C cervical disc implant also reached a milestone with 200,000 cases done as of January. A 4.5mm version of that disc also made its U.S. debut in 2023. ZimVie also eyed studying its cervical disc further. The FDA gave the company hybrid investigational device exemption for the Mobi-C cervical disc, paving the way for ZimVie to enroll U.S. patients in a study that would assess cervical disc replacement adjacent to a spinal fusion.
December 2023: ZimVie's Vital spinal fixation system was FDA cleared for use with Brainlab's spine and trauma navigation.
After its challenging financial year, ZimVie announced final plans to sell its spine business for $375 million, going all in on its dental line.
February 2024: The company posted another spine sale decrease from the fourth quarter of 2023, down 10.6% for the quarter and 9% down for the full year.
April 2024: Upon closing of the sale, the business will now operate as Highridge Medical, based in Westminster, Colo. Its inaugural board of directors includes former executives at Stryker, Medtronic and other industry leaders.