S.Korea's Osteonic starts sports medicine exports to Japan

South Korea's surgical and medical instruments maker Osteonic Co. on Thursday announced the start of exports of its Kinex sports medicine products to Japan.

The inaugural shipment comes with the company's approval in Japan through its partner company Zimmer Biomet of the US. In 2020, Osteonic signed a contract to exclusively supply its Kinex line to Zimmer Biomet, the world's second-largest maker of orthopedic medical devices.

Exports of Oseonic products to Europe and Australia began in the fourth quarter last year.

The Kinex line features devices used in surgery to connect bones and tissues when ligaments in joints and soft tissues are partially or completely ruptured. The global sports medicine market in 2020 was valued at $5.7 billion (7 trillion won), with biomaterials accounting for over 93%.

Kinex products are made of independently developed biodegradable composite materials and rated bio-friendly but with optimized for physical strength and functions. Such items naturally decompose in the body, thus no follow-up procedures are needed to remove a device after surgery.

Kinex products have seen sales skyrocket from 200 million won in their first year of 2018 to 4.4 billion won last year. The supply deal with Zimmer Biometro is expected to create even more explosive growth.

“The number of export markets and scale of sports medicine products will steadily rise,” Osteonic CEO Lee Dong-won said, adding that sales in the US will begin next year.

"Domestically, prices are limited due to insurance premiums but those of the items supplied to Zimmer Biomet will be more than double."

By Min Su Han

hms@hankyung.com