Seikagaku and Genzyme Biosurgery Continue to Dominate the Global Hyaluronic Acid Viscosupplementation Market

TORONTO, Dec. 6, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- According to Millennium Research Group (MRG), the global authority on medical technology market intelligence, Seikagaku and Genzyme Biosurgery continue to dominate the global hyaluronic acid viscosupplementation market. In 2010, Genzyme Biosurgery led the US market, the largest single-country hyaluronic acid viscosupplementation market, and also performed very well in Europe. Seikagaku, on the other hand, also earned strong sales in the US, but secured the majority of its revenues in the Japanese market, earning well over half of total market revenues in the country.

Seikagaku's ARTZ, the first hyaluronic acid viscosupplementation product in Japan, was released in 1987 and is now a well-recognized brand name, which allows it to command a higher selling price and larger government reimbursement values per injection than competing products in Japan.  As a result of strong brand recognition and continued marketing campaigns, Seikagaku maintains a majority market share in the Japanese hyaluronic acid viscosupplementation market.  In the US, ARTZ is known as SUPARTZ and is distributed by Smith & Nephew.

Genzyme Biosurgery began selling the first 1-injection product, Synvisc-One, in the US in 2009.  Synvisc-One is sold at a similar price to the company's 3-injection product, Synvisc, highlighting Genzyme's intention to compete based on the convenience of single-injection products rather than premium pricing. The launch of Synvisc-One with this marketing strategy allowed Genzyme to increase its share of the US market to nearly 50% in 2010.

"Genzyme Biosurgery has also strengthened its international presence by gaining approval to market Synvisc in Japan this past September.  Synvisc is the first 3-injection product available in Japan," says Jon Eubank, Analyst at MRG. "Although commercial sales will not be significant until next year, Synvisc will gain some market share in the highly competitive Japanese market due to its position as the only 3-injection product available in the country.  The rate of adoption of Synvisc will be limited, however, by strong competition from established and well-recognized competing brands, such as Seikagaku's ARTZ.  But around the world, sales of Genzyme's Synvisc and Synvisc-One products continue to grow due to patient and physician preference for shorter treatment regimens."

MRG's Global Markets for Hyaluronic Acid Viscosupplementation 2011 report provides coverage of the US, Europe (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UK), Japan, Brazil, India, and China. The report includes a breakdown of treatment and injection volumes, average selling prices, and market values for hyaluronic acid viscosupplementation products used in 1-, 3-, and 5-injection regimens.  

About Millennium Research Group

Millennium Research Group (www.MRG.net), a Decision Resources, Inc. company (www.DecisionResourcesInc.com), is the global authority on medical technology market intelligence and the leading provider of strategic information to the healthcare sector. The company provides specialized industry expertise through multiclient market research, ongoing Marketrack™ projects, customer behavior tracking, facility-level procedure forecasting, and customized solutions.

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SOURCE Millennium Research Group