Product Differentiation Strategy
It's difficult to implement product differentiation in the medical device industry without going into costly approval processes through multiple government entities. Wright recently got approved for its innovate bone augment by the FDA, which marks the first of its kind to receive that approval as an alternative to autograft. That did not occur without some hiccups including a decade long research process and an initial rejection of the technology. The re-evaluation was kind of like the hail mary of medical devices. (https://globenewswire.com/news-release/2015/09/01/765328/0/en/Wright-Medical-Group-Inc-Announces-FDA-Approval-for-AUGMENT-R-Bone-Graft.html).
This definitely expands Wright into and untapped $30 million market in the industry, but I can't see it becoming a strategy that Wright wants to continue in the future. There is now immense pressure for the unlaunched product to create revenue, and until it hits the market we won't really know if that is a product that customers are willing to pay for.
When we look at the other technology, there is very little differentiation advantage as a Stryker screw will likely perform just as well as the Solana screw. The difference is the reputation and service and support of the customer doing business with your company and those are marketing advantages that have to be expanded while being compliant.
No comments:
Post a Comment