50 companies to watch

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Published: June 2010

50 Companies to Watch

MD+DI shines a light on notable companies.

Choosing just 50 companies to watch in the medical device industry is no easy task. After all, the industry is known for its diversity, not to mention its daily innovations. The challenge for MD+DI editors was to identify not only those companies that have achieved success, but also to find those manufacturers with the potential to revolutionize care practices. To that end we found some companies you may not have heard of, and we found some that may not even have products on the market.
We solicited nominations from readers, our Editorial Advisory Board and Reader Board, and industry observers. We meticulously analyzed any information we could get our hands on about each nominee, and then we debated among ourselves until we produced the list you see on the following pages.
There are some firms whose products walk the line of what constitutes a medical device. Biologicals and other convergent trends are blurring traditional categorizing, and MD+DI editors felt that the evolving medical device space allowed for some firms to erase that line altogether.
Another trend that emerged was the number of orthopedic companies that were selected. These firms often boast both groundbreaking technology and something altogether more rare these days�profit. Several of these companies have seen growth over the last year, a trend not everyone could report during a recession.
This isn�t a ranking, nor is it a declaration of the top, best, or most-likely-to-succeed companies in the device industry. The firms are listed alphabetically, for the most part, so what�s important is the content, not the order. And what you�ll find are tales of companies that are making an outstanding contribution to healthcare and that are expected to continue doing so.
There are certainly many companies we�ve forgotten, overlooked, or otherwise cast aside. With humility, here are the editors� 2010 selections for ��50 Companies to Watch.

Unilife Corp.
Lewisberry, PA
Annual revenue: $4.6 million Australian (FY ended 6/09)
Key products: Safety syringes
Reason to watch: Unilife can significantly improve injection safety with its core safety syringe technology. The needle automatically retracts, and an automatic disable feature prevents reuse. The integration of automatic and controlled needle retraction features could give Unilife a major competitive advantage. The company is capitalizing on increased syringe use, which is partially driven by an aging population, increased incidence of diabetes, and the development of new vaccines.