The Asia Pacific cartilage degeneration market is expected to reach US$ 2,509.24 million by 2027 from US$ 1,721.26 million in 2019; it is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 5.0% from 2020 to 2027.
The cartilage degeneration market is growing primarily due to the increasing prevalence of sports injuries and obesity in Asia Pacific. However, the high cost of cartilage therapies is restraining the growth of the market. Additionally, growing number of product approvals and rising emphasis on regenerative medicines are likely to fuel the growth of the cartilage degeneration market during the forecast period.
Degeneration of cartilage can lead to pain and chronic inflammation in joints of the human body. Furthermore, damaged cartilage can potentially influence the quality of a patient’s life. Continuous research and developments are innovating new techniques and methodologies to deal with damages cartilages. A few of these techniques comprise joint replacement, cell therapies, and chondroplasty.
Companies operating in the cartilage degeneration market are undertaking various R&D activities to introduce more innovative products. For instance, in January 2019, Cellular Biomedicine Group, Inc, a biopharmaceutical firm engaged in the development of immunotherapies for cancer and stem cell therapies for degenerative diseases, announced that its AlloJoin® therapy for Knee Osteoarthritis (KOA) has been approved as the first stem cell KOA drug application for a Phase II clinical trial in China.
The new cartilage therapies are adopt advanced cell technologies to strengthen the procedural outcomes. Furthermore, MEDIPOST announced that the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) has approved the Phase 3 clinical trial of CARTISTEM® for the treatment of patients with ankle joint osteochondral cartilage defects. Also, DePuySynthes Mitek Sports Medicine launched a new suite of knee arthroscopy solutions to improve operating room efficiency, simplify ACL and meniscus repair, and make these surgeries more reproducible.
The industry players in the cartilage degeneration market are focusing on establishing collaborations and partnerships for the development of advanced products with increasing procedural efficiency. For instance, Wright Medical Group announced the acquisition of Imascap SAS for US$ 88 million. Imascap SAS develops software for preoperative joint replacement surgery. The increasing number of product approvals, R&D, adoption of advanced technologies, and strategic activities are projected to offer lucrative growth opportunities for the cartilage degeneration market in APAC.
Countries in Asia Pacific are facing challenges due to increasing cases of COVID-19. Hospitals are already struggling to deal with rising pandemic pressure. To relieve healthcare systems, many clinics/hospitals are postponing non-critical surgeries. Despite China being a rapidly growing market for medical devices such as hip and knee implants, due to the COVID-19 crisis, hardly any elective surgeries were performed in the country in February. Considering the current healthcare scenario, medical device companies such as Stryker, CartiHeal Inc., and Smith & Nephew have predicated the decline in sales in China.
The knee segment accounted for the largest share of the market in 2019. The growth of this segment is attributed to the increasing prevalence of knee injuries. For instance, according to the study—based on NCBI data—published in an online newspaper, one in four adults suffers from chronic knee pain. Furthermore, increasing awareness of the benefits provided by cartilage repair is anticipated to drive the growth of the knee segment.
Major secondary sources associated with the Asia Pacific cartilage degeneration market report are World Health Organization (WHO), Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, and others.