INNOVATING SPINAL SOLUTIONS

OZOP Surgical’s medical innovations are set to head the minimally invasive surgery (MIS) revolution in Asia and beyond.

According to the most recent United Nations estimates, the current world population stands at 7.6 billion. Of these billions, close to 400 million are above 80 years of age and millions of others are affected by lifestyle disorders such as obesity or stress. Examining these statistics makes clear that the medical industry has never been as important as it is today.

Among the many medical innovations that have arisen to combat these new afflictions, one of the biggest is that of minimally invasive surgery (MIS) – a surgical evolution that minimizes the size of the incision and tissue manipulation needed, leading to faster patient recovery time and lower levels of complications and pain. Championing the MIS movement in the region is OZOP Surgical, a Switzerland-based public listed international medical device maker that develops, manufactures, and sells endoscopic instruments and technologies. With a focus on spine treatment, neurological and pain management procedures, OZOP quickly established its foothold in the US, China and India and is now seeking to expand this multi-billion dollar industry to other major Asian locations.

A Burgeoning Market

Due to its minimally invasive nature, endoscopy has become a major proponent of the rapidly growing medical device industry. Historically regarded as a secondary procedure, today most physicians regard endoscopy as a primary method of diagnosis and treatment. Visiongain, a London-based business information provider, predicts that the global market for endoscopic devices will grow to US$75.8 billion by 2022.

The rising utility and popularity of endoscopy has also resulted in a growing demand for endoscopic spine surgery – a safe and reliable treatment for everything from spinal discectomy to retrieval of herniated disc fragments and stabilization of unstable spinal motion segments. The demand is fuelled by neck and lower-back conditions that rack up costs between US$50 billion and US$75 billion annually in the US alone. Back pain forms the fifth leading cause of hospital admission and third most common reason for surgery.

While the US is the largest regional market for spinal surgery devices, a 2012 article in The Surgeon stated that 30% of all spine surgeries in East Asia are now performed by endoscopic techniques compared to only 10% in the West. With behemoth countries like China paving the way for the industry with its ageing population, the demand for these procedures is set for exponential growth.

The OZOP Edge

Led by an international team of field experts, OZOP has focused its portfolio of innovative products and technologies on this enormous market that serves tens of millions of people per year. While the company offers complete MIS solutions based on an array of proprietary products, its speciality lies in spinal offerings that cover nine lines of products used in over 80% of all surgical spine cases. Ranging from endoscopes and instruments to medical devices and a full range of implants, these products have seen widespread success owing to their enhanced design and utility.

OZOP’s PELD endoscope, for example, is a 10-mm system compared to the market norm of 6-7mm, allowing for larger working space and a wider variety of procedures such as non-fusion spinal implants. OZOP’s retractor is also the world’s smallest spine retractor system adapted to the PELD endoscope, making it the most minimally invasive. An added edge to these offerings is the company’s competitive manufacturer direct pricing enhanced by its shedding of high overhead administrative and logistics costs.

The Balloon Endoprotheses is inserted in a collapsed state before expanding to a functional form when filled with a hardenable material

OZOP Surgical's PELD endoscope is a 10mm system which can be used in a wide variety of procedures and in any part of the spine

Regional Takeover

OZOP’s strategic products and pricing have led them to overtake most regional competition, seeing most traction in China where its systems have been used in over 200 non-fusion cases since September 2015. Despite this success, the company aims to continue developing exciting innovations such as light filtration and 3D visualization tools for MIS that present better anatomical understanding. OZOP is also developing a revolutionary MIS interbody orthopaedic device and procedure known as Balloon Endoprostheses, a process that can fit larger spinal implants into small endoscope working channels by being inserted in a collapsed state and then expanded to functional form when filled with a hardenable material.

Now publicly listed in the US, OZOP’s growing resources and continuously expanding product catalogue have the company well positioned in the Asian medical device market. With its ambitions for the region, OZOP aims to find strategic regional partners to further their mission of medical innovation.

This article was first published on the MillionaireAsia Issue 48 - June 2018