Episode summary
Carlsmed CEO on Cutting-Edge Spinal Care Technology | Bloomberg Businessweek
Bloomberg Businessweek Daily
· · Hosts: Carol Massar, Tim Stenovec · Guests: Mike Cordonnier
Summary
Carlsmed’s pitch is that spine surgery can be made more predictable by using AI-enabled planning and patient-specific implants. The host said the company’s shares rose 16% after the latest quarter, when Carlsmed reported a 32-cent adjusted loss versus the 43-cent estimate and revenue of $15.2 million versus $14.5 million expected. Mike Cordonnier said the platform builds a virtual 3D model of a patient’s pathology, creates an optimal surgical plan, and 3D prints implants on demand for surgery.
Cordonnier argued that this approach improves alignment and outcomes because surgeons are still using their familiar techniques, but with better pre-op planning and custom devices. He pointed to a recent Global Spine Journal publication showing a 74% reduction in reoperation at the two-year mark. He also said intraoperative flexibility is built in, though he said it is very rarely needed.
Commercially, he said Carlsmed is still early but already has traction with large health care systems and teaching institutions. He emphasized reimbursement as a key driver, citing a new technology add-on payment for the cervical platform and new DRG codes for the lumbar platform that improve hospital economics while leaving surgeon compensation unchanged. He said the company is focused on spine for now, with its cervical platform recently launched and a deeper spine pipeline ahead.
Key takeaways
- The host said Carlsmed shares closed up 16% after the company beat EPS and revenue estimates for the quarter.
- Mike Cordonnier said Carlsmed’s platform uses patient data and surgeon data to create a virtual 3D plan and 3D-print implants on demand.
- Cordonnier said a Global Spine Journal publication showed a 74% reduction in reoperation at two years.
- Cordonnier said the company is seeing traction with large health care systems and teaching institutions, but is still early commercially.
- He said reimbursement is a major selling point, including a new technology add-on payment and new DRG codes for personalized devices.
Notable quotes
“we take data about patient data about the surgeon create a virtual 3D model of that patient's pathology”
“the challenge, like we talked about with spine surgery, is you're limited to what's available in the operating room”
“our recent publication in the Global Spine Journal that showed a 74% reduction in reoperation at the 2-year time point”
How the episode opens
Bloomberg Audio Studios podcasts radio news.
You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and Tim Stenc on Bloomberg Radio. Let's talk about some earnings. Carl's Med shares closed higher by 16%.
That was on Thursday. It was the first day of trading after the medtech company reported EPS and sales above estimates. Uh, as far as the numbers looked, a loss of 32 cents a share on a comp basis for the latest quarter versus the estimated loss of 43 cents.
So, that came in above estimates. Also, sales uh came in at $15.2 million versus the estimate of $14.5 million. That was what analysts thought they would see.
We've got Michael Cordon back with us, co-founder, CEO, and president of Charles Med. It's the $350 million market cap company. He joins us here in the Bloomberg Interactive Brokers Studio.
Welcome back. It's good to see you. It's it's been a few months since the IPO.
That's when you were last here. Uh just to remind everybody, the company works on AI enabled personal spine surgery solutions for back surgery. Um we always know that back we know that back surgery does not always have great outcomes.
Just remind everybody what your company can do.
Yeah, first of all, great being back here. Thanks. Thanks Tim and Carol.
Uh so what we do is we take data about patient data about the surgeon create a virtual 3D model of that patient's pathology and then the optimal three-dimensional surgical plan that's given to the surgeon they approve it and then we 3D print the devices on demand that are made for surgery. In surgery, the surgeons place the device, do the surgical correction for a spine fusion, and then we collect posttop data on every patient that continues to train and improve the planning.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- ai-enabled personalized spine surgery
- 3d surgical planning
- spine fusion surgery
- medical technology growth strategy
- earnings
Companies and tickers mentioned
- Carlsmed
Watch the episode
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Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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