Orthopedic Soft Tissue Allograft Market will Grow Considerably Following FDA Vindication

According to Millennium Research Group, the orthopedic soft tissue allograft market will surpass $200 million by 2012

Waltham, Massachusetts (PRWEB) November 15, 2007 -- Millennium Research Group forecasts that the US orthopedic soft tissue allograft market will recover after having been surrounded by scandals for much of the past two years. According to Millennium Research Group's US Markets for Orthopedic Soft Tissue Solutions 2008 report, which covers markets for knee ligament reconstruction, shoulder fixation, meniscus repair, knee cartilage repair, and rotator cuff reinforcement, the US orthopedic soft tissue allograft market will surpass $200 million by 2012, manifesting an increase of nearly 50% from 2007.

Early last year, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ordered Biomedical Tissue Services (BTS), a human tissue recovery firm, to cease production because of improper allograft screening procedures. Improper screening can lead to the transmission of diseases from donors to unsuspecting patients. The fallout from this scandal included criminal charges against the owner of BTS, as well as numerous civil lawsuits against the company and the soft tissue allograft providers that received allografts recovered by BTS. To rebuild public trust in the soft tissue allograft market, the FDA created a Human Tissue Task Force (HTTF) in August 2006. After visiting over 150 human tissue recovery centers, the HTTF released a report in June of this year stating that allografts are essentially safe, and provided guidelines for allograft manufacturers to follow going forward.

"The soft tissue allograft market went through a rough patch," says Chia Zheng, Analyst at MRG. "However, with vindication from the FDA, patients should feel more comfortable receiving soft tissue allografts. This, along with continuing research from allograft providers to develop and process new soft tissue allografts to meet an ever-increasing demand, will drive this market strongly over the next five years."

Further driving this market is the consolidation of providers. Today, allograft providers are more centralized, making it easier to regulate the tens of thousands of soft tissue allografts that are used in the US each year.

The US Markets for Orthopedic Soft Tissue Solutions 2008 report includes coverage of many industry competitors, including AlloSource, Arthrex, ArthroCare, Biomet Sports Medicine, CONMED Linvatec, Community Tissue Services, DePuy Mitek, Genzyme Biosurgery, LifeCell, LifeNet Health, Musculoskeletal Transplant Foundation, Osteotech, Regeneration Technologies, Smith & Nephew, and Stryker. Also available from Millennium Research Group is the US Markets for Soft Tissue Repair 2007 report.

About Allografts
Allografts are cells, tissue, or organs sourced from another human being. Surgeon acceptance of allografts as a viable, and in some cases, preferable, alternative to autografts (transplanting a patient's own tissue from one body area to another in order to repair an injury) is increasing; however the supply of allografts is limited because of a lack of donors.

About Millennium Research Group
Millennium Research Group (www.MRG.net), a Decision Resources, Inc. company (www.DecisionResources.com), is the global authority on medical technology market intelligence and a leading provider of strategic information to the health care sector. Focused solely on the medical device, pharmaceutical, and biotechnology industries, the company provides its clients with the benefits of its specialized industry expertise through published reports and customized consulting services.

All company, brand, or product names contained in this document may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

###