British medical device maker Smith & Nephew will enter the market for extremities surgery products this year with a shoulder device and plans to build a Memphis-based extremities business unit.
Earlier Thursday, Smith & Nephew reported a 24 percent increase in fourth-quarter profits.
Orthopedics president Joseph DeVivo said the company now has “two or three” people working on extremities products within the company’s trauma products unit and would like to expand its extremities product lineup through licensing agreements and acquisitions.
Doctors use extremities products to repair damage to joints in the toes, fingers, feet, hands, ankles, elbows and shoulders.
DeVivo said Smith & Nephew got into the extremities business when it bought Swiss company Plus Orthopedics in 2007 and inherited that company’s Promos brand implant for total shoulder replacements.
