Globus Medical reported its U.S. spine business grew by more than 8 percent, adjusting for the negative impact of its biologics business, and the international spine business was up 25 percent in the first quarter of 2019.
The company also launched five products during the quarter and reported shipping a record number of spine and trauma sets after resolving supply chain issues.
The company also reported enabling technologies had $7 million in revenue during the first quarter, which is typically a challenging quarter for the line. The company's spinal robotic technology, ExcelsiusGPS, is the only product in the enabling technologies segment.
"We are experiencing an elongation of the decision cycle by hospital executives in purchasing robotic systems due to the increase in marketing initiatives by our competition," said Dave Demski, president and CEO of Globus Medical, during the first quarter conference call as transcribed by Seeking Alpha. "Deals are taking longer to get finalized as accounts evaluate potential alternatives. In fact, we have already closed several deals in Q1 that we had expected in Q1."
Mr. Demski said the company is still bullish on computer assistance in the spine field and thinks Globus can be an industry leader. "There are several reasons for our optimism," he said. "First and foremost, we are seeing consistent adoption of the technology backed by accounts who have purchased ExcelsiusGPS. And as a result, surgeons are able to perform less invasive techniques."
He also cited robotics gaining traction at spine society meetings and events, as well as the increase in attendance to corporate tours and robotic road show presentations. The company is filing for FDA clearance on a cranial solution and spinal deformity planning solution that it expects to launch by the end of the year. Globus also aims to unveil three new modular platform technologies complementing ExcelsiusGPS to launch Smarter OR, a suite of technologies aimed at "enabling surgeons to effectively and efficiently deliver better care," according to Mr. Demski.