Companies Large and Small Succeeding in Advanced Wound Management

The advanced wound management industry can thought of as having three divisions. First, there are the major companies, offering a wide range of products and in some cases having a background of providing conventional wound dressings before they expanded into new technologies.

The advanced wound management industry can thought of as having three divisions. First, there are the major companies, offering a wide range of products and in some cases having a background of providing conventional wound dressings before they expanded into new technologies. These companies have built their commanding role on a combination of innovation—exploiting new insights into optimal wound care—and providing “one stop shop” services, highly desirable in a field where many different types of dressing and healing aid are needed to cope with the full range of acute and chronic wounds.

The second division of the advanced wound management industry consists of companies that specialize in one technology. Examples include Argentum, which produces wound dressings incorporating silver as an antimicrobial agent; Advanced Biohealing, which focuses on tissue-engineering skin substitutes; and Kinetic Concepts Inc. (KCI; recently acquired by a private equity fund for $5 billion), which produces devices used to apply negative pressure over chronic wounds. There are over 30 such specialist companies operating globally.

Thirdly, there is a large number of smaller companies, some offering product ranges and others concentrating on more narrowly focused offerings. The number of these companies is over 50 worldwide, evincing the low barrier to entry for wound product market participants. Many participants are also active in only one or a limited number of national markets.

Given the association of wounds with aging populations and other demographic trends driving incidence and prevalence of wound types and the growing sophistication of wound technologies in managing chronic and acute wounds, the market for wound management products is growing, and will continue to grow, at a stead pace.  See the 2008-2017 growth by wound product types below:

Source: MedMarket Diligence, LLC; Report #S247, “Worldwide Wound Management, 2008-2017: Established and Emerging Products, Technologies and Markets in the U.S., Europe, Japan and Rest of World.”