Zimmer Biomet
The Surgical Experts

When Bryan Hanson was given the job of CEO of Zimmer Biomet in December, he knew that he had a tall order to fill. The company has struggled with quality control and supply chain problems since December 2016, which has created investor frustration that ultimately led former personnel to resign. In his six weeks on the job, Hanson came to realize that the company’s current challenges are even more complex than he had anticipated. There was much work to be done, and Hanson buckled up and got started.

First, he has spent as much time as he possibly could with the commercial team so far, including time in the field working one-on-one with sales staff, visiting customers, going to cases, and mostly trying to spend a day walking in their shoes. This time on the ground could go a long way toward rebuilding the trust that was lost over the past year. “There was just a lack of trust from the sales organization for corporate. We had given them timelines that we failed on, and they’ve gone out, through the information they have received from us, approached the customer, only to have to pull back again,” mentions Hanson. The lack of trust between the sales team and the management team was creating a situation where even when the company has the supply available, the sales force was waiting until they felt confident enough in what they are being told to relay the information to the customers. Hanson states, “They felt a little orphaned if you will, and that’s going to change. It’s changed already.” Next, he put extra emphasis on transforming the culture at the organization. In a way, he mentions, that the company just hadn’t become a fully integrated new organization since the 2015 merger of Zimmer and Biomet, which were formally two rivals that both called Warsaw, IN home. A more subtle distinction was made in the way Hanson referred to the manufacturing facility where the quality control issues occurred. During earnings calls last year, the management team often referred to it as “the legacy Biomet facility.” During the latest call, that facility was referred to as “the North Campus.”

"Zimmer Biomet is engaged in designing, manufacturing and marketing of orthopedic reconstructive products; sports medicine, biologics, extremities and trauma products"

The efforts were multifold to revive the company, and the results were spectacular. The sales organization responded positively to Hanson’s willingness to pound the pavement with them, and other efforts he has made to engage with them. “Having been to a number of these sales meetings before, I can tell you the energy, the enthusiasm, and excitement of our sales team is off the charts compared to where it’s been,” Florin said. “Bryan did a terrific job and connected with the sales team,” mentions Hanson.

Today, Zimmer Biomet is the world’s most trusted brand for personalized bone and joint healthcare solutions, helping people discover and achieve exceptional outcomes.

Global Leaders in Surgical Products

As a leading innovator in musculoskeletal healthcare, Zimmer Biomet offers a complete portfolio of products for joint reconstruction, bone, and skeletal repair, sports medicine, spine, and dental restoration. Founded in 2001, Zimmer Biomet is engaged in designing, manufacturing, and marketing of orthopedic reconstructive products; sports medicine, biologics, extremities, and trauma products; office-based technologies; spine, craniomaxillofacial and thoracic products; dental implants, and related surgical products. The Company’s products and solutions help treat patients suffering from disorders of, or injuries to, bones, joints, or supporting soft tissues. Zimmer Biomet manages its operations through three geographic operating segments: the Americas, consisting principally of the United States and other North, Central, and South American markets; EMEA, consisting principally of Europe and the Middle East and African markets, and the Asia Pacific, consisting primarily of Japan and other Asian and Pacific markets. The Company’s product category segments include Americas Spine, Office Based Technologies, Craniomaxillofacial and Thoracic (CMF), and Dental.

Zimmer Biomet’s total knee replacement surgeries include a femoral component, a patella (knee cap), a tibial tray and an articular surface. Knee replacement surgeries include first-time, or primary, joint replacement procedures and revision procedures for the replacement, repair or enhancement of an implant or component from a previous procedure. Its knee portfolio also includes early intervention and joint preservation products, which seeks to preserve the joint by repairing or regenerating damaged tissues and by treating osteoarthritis. Its knee brands include Persona The Personalized Knee System, NexGen Complete Knee Solution, Vanguard Knee System, and Oxford Partial Knee.

Early Intervention for Surgical Procedures

On the total hip replacement surgery side, Zimmer Biomet provides solutions to replace both the head of the femur and the socket portion of the pelvis—acetabulum—of the natural hip. Hip procedures include first-time, or primary joint replacement, as well as revision procedures. It’s hip brands include Zimmer M/L Taper Hip Prosthesis, Taperloc Hip System, Arcos Modular Hip System, Continuum Acetabular System, and G7 Acetabular System. The Company’s S.E.T. product category includes surgical, sports medicine, biologics, foot and ankle, extremities, and trauma products. Its surgical products are used to support various surgical procedures. Its sports medicine products are primarily for the repair of soft tissue injuries, which are used in the knee and shoulder.

Its biologics products are used as an early intervention for joint preservation or to support surgical procedures. Its foot and ankle and extremities products are designed to treat arthritic conditions and fractures in the foot, ankle, shoulder, elbow, and wrist.

Its trauma products are used to stabilize damaged or broken bones and their surrounding tissues to support the body’s natural healing process. Its S.E.T. brands include Transposal and Transposal Ultra Fluid Waste Management Systems, A.T.S. Automatic Tourniquet Systems, JuggerKnot Soft Anchor System, Gel-One 1 Cross-linked Hyaluronate, Trabecular Metal Reverse Shoulder System, Comprehensive Shoulder, Zimmer Natural Nail System, and DVR Plating System.

Covering Every Aspect of the Human Body

With a unique focus on spinal surgery, Zimmer Biomet excels in providing spine products division designs, manufactures and distributes medical devices and surgical instruments to deliver solutions for individuals with back or neck pain caused by degenerative conditions, deformities or traumatic injury of the spine. Its CMF division includes face and skull reconstruction products as well as products that fixate and stabilize the bones of the chest to facilitate healing or reconstruction after open heart surgery, trauma or for deformities of the chest. Its spine and CMF brands include Polaris Spinal System, Timberline Lateral Fusion System, Mobi-C Cervical Disc, SternaLock Blu Closure System, and SternaLock Rigid Sternal Fixation.

The Company’s dental products division manufactures and distributes dental reconstructive implants for individuals who are total without teeth or are missing one or more teeth; dental prosthetic products targeted at providing a natural restoration to resemble the original teeth and dental regenerative products for soft tissue and bone rehabilitation. Its dental brands include Tapered Screw-Vent Implant System, 3i T3 Implant, and Puros Allograft Products. Its other product category primarily includes its bone cement and bone healing products. Its brands include PALACOS 2 Bone Cement and SpinalPak Spinal Fusion Stimulator.

The Road Ahead

Having carved a unique niche in the Surgical space, Zimmer Biomet is all set to conquer it in the future. The FDA has approved Zimmer Biomet’s Synovasure Lateral Flow Test Kit—a device used to determine infection around a joint replacement in the lubricating fluid of patients being evaluated for revision surgery.

The device aims to safeguard against revision surgery—surgery performed to replace or compensate for a failed implant. Synovasure detects antimicrobial proteins in the fluid of patients around the joint, which are released by white blood cells in response to infection. It is intended as an aid to determine whether there is an infection in the lubricating fluid, not to pinpoint a specific type of infection. It is designed for use with other clinical findings while diagnosing a patient’s prosthetic joint infection. “With this test, healthcare professionals now have an additional option available to aid their clinical assessment as to whether the patient has an infection and requires revision surgery,” states Tim Stenzel, MD, PhD, director of the office of In Vitro Diagnostics and Radiological Health in the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health.