Vantedge Medical Acquires Century-Old Hobson & Motzer to Strengthen Position in Surgical Stapler Market

On August 20 local time, Vantedge Medical announced the acquisition of Hobson & Motzer, Inc., aiming to further enhance its influence in the surgical stapler market. To date, the specific financial terms of this acquisition have not been disclosed.

Vander-Bend is a precision instrument manufacturing and packaging company, primarily providing metal-based OEM services to its clients. To date, it has been operating in the field of precision manufacturing for over 40 years.

The Fifth Acquisition: Purchasing a Century-Old Enterprise

Since around 2019, Vander-Bend has successively acquired four companies: TMK Manufacturing, JL Haley, Swiss Precision Machining, and Omni Components.

On November 8, 2023, Vander-Bend officially announced its strategic transformation, integrating its existing business resources and expertise with those of the aforementioned four companies under the new brand Vantedge Medical, to fully enter the medical device OEM sector.

The integrated Vantedge Medical boasts comprehensive metal development and manufacturing capabilities, providing services such as rapid prototyping and design, machining of complex precision micro-instruments, and sheet metal fabrication and assembly for clients in the fields of surgical robotics, orthopedics, surgical instruments, and dentistry. Furthermore, Vantedge Medical possesses over 550,000 square feet of manufacturing space and holds ISO 9001, ISO 13485, and FDA certifications, enabling it to meet the manufacturing demands of top-tier global medical device companies.

Recently, Vantedge Medical made its fifth acquisition, purchasing a century-old company.

The origins of Hobson & Motzer can be traced back to 1912. Like Vander-Bend (the predecessor of Vantedge Medical), Hobson & Motzer did not initially operate in the healthcare sector; indeed, its official website’s product descriptions scarcely reveal any close affiliation with the medical device manufacturing industry.

However, its history includes the following introduction: “As our reputation in the medical device market continued to grow, companies began inviting us to manufacture surgical staplers.” At that time, Hobson & Motzer keenly recognized the market’s growth potential, shifted its focus to surgical staplers, and led the development of endoscopic staplers in the mid-1990s.

Subsequently, after completing its Series D financing round, Hobson & Motzer continued to increase its investment in the surgical stapler sector. On one hand, it expanded its factory footprint to 75,000 square feet; on the other hand, it has been continuously enhancing its precision medical device manufacturing capabilities, such as laser welding, CNC machining, and precision chemical processing.

Looking back today on their initial decision to enter the stapler market, Hobson & Motzer must feel immensely fortunate, as the stapler market has long since grown into a multi-billion-dollar industry.

In a Multi-Billion Yuan Market, Domestic Substitution of Electric Endoscopic Staplers Is Accelerating Significantly

According to Frost & Sullivan, the global surgical stapler market reached $8.91 billion in 2022, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 4.9% from 2017 to 2022. Among this, China's surgical stapler market reached RMB 8.63 billion in 2022, with a CAGR of approximately 12.5% from 2017 to 2022, which is higher than the growth rate of the global surgical stapler market.

Amidst the market's rapid growth, the competitive landscape has undergone significant changes—although imported products still dominate the domestic stapler market overall, a clear trend of substitution by domestically produced alternatives has emerged.

Overall, according to Frost & Sullivan, the localization rate in China’s surgical stapler market is continuously rising. In 2017, the localization rate was only 29.5%, but it reached 37.4% in 2022. It is projected that by 2030, the localization rate of surgical staplers in China will increase to 60%.

In detail, from 2020 to 2022, open surgical staplers in China achieved the highest localization rate, which increased from 71% to 78%. The localization of powered endoscopic staplers saw the most significant acceleration, rising from 7% to 22%, while manual endoscopic staplers also demonstrated strong momentum, with their localization rate climbing from 26% to 41%.

Notably, under the trend toward intelligent and minimally invasive surgery, electric endoscopic staplers are regarded as the future direction for stapling devices due to their various intelligent features and ability to enable automated and standardized operations, thereby reducing variability and experience-dependent differences in manual handling. This is likely the primary reason why domestic companies are continuously intensifying their efforts in the development of electric endoscopic staplers.

According to incomplete statistics, as of October 2022, more than 70 companies in China had obtained NMPA registration certificates for electric staplers. The most representative enterprises include the medical device giants Johnson & Johnson and Medtronic, as well as Chinese domestic companies such as Vantedge Medical, Rich Surgical, Fenghe Medical, and Partel.

Among them, Johnson & Johnson launched the ECHELON™ Powered Vascular Stapler in 2011. Designed to enhance performance in vascular transection, this stapler can navigate confined and challenging spaces and is suitable for both open and minimally invasive surgeries. Additionally, the product features ease of use. Its adaptive articulating head design enables single-handed operation by physicians, facilitating more precise positioning and manipulation.

Medtronic’s Signia™ Stapling System is equipped with an advanced feedback system that automatically adjusts stapling speed based on varying tissue thickness, while its smaller shaft diameter and staple cartridge design facilitate easier dissection of delicate anatomical structures.

Let us now examine the efforts of domestic enterprises in developing electric endoscopic staplers.

Vantedge Medical’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Weierkaidi, primarily manufactures a wide range of disposable staplers for general thoracic surgery, gastrointestinal surgery, and urological and anorectal surgery. Notably, its disposable endoscopic electric cutting stapler is the first third-generation stapler developed in China. This product is suitable for the transection, resection, or anastomosis of digestive tract, liver, gallbladder, kidney, and lung tissues during open or minimally invasive surgeries. It enables one-handed operation, allowing the device to stop at any angle within ±60° by simply pressing the angle adjustment button.

Vantedge Medical’s Huiwen™ series of intelligent electric staplers features smart tissue thickness recognition. If the clamped tissue is too thick, the indicator light turns red and the device automatically stops to prevent high-risk suturing. If there is a certain risk associated with the tissue thickness, the indicator light turns yellow, prompting the physician to further check for foreign bodies in the clamped tissue and informing them that the device will fire with greater force and at a slower speed to ensure reliable suturing. When the tissue thickness is appropriate, the device lights up green, signaling to the physician: “You are about to complete a perfect suture.”

Going Global Has Long Become a Must

Admittedly, these companies are merely a microcosm of Chinese enterprises competing in the electric stapler market. In this sector, there are many other similar players. Furthermore, within the broader surgical stapling landscape, numerous Chinese companies are actively striving for success, such as Tianchen Medical, Yisi Medical, and Fenghe Medical.

Moreover, encouragingly, they have not only appeared in the Chinese market but also successfully expanded their products to regions such as Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East.

For example, Fenghe Medical, which topped the 2022 export rankings for Chinese-made electric endoscopic surgical devices, has obtained FDA, CE, and NMPA registration certificates for its Lunar electric endoscopic stapler and the previous-generation Blue Electric series. As of 2022, these two products had been sold and used in 80 countries worldwide.

As of the end of 2019, Vantedge Medical held 380 patents domestically and internationally, with its products sold to more than 50 countries and regions, including the United States, the European Union, Brazil, Australia, and South Korea.

Vantedge Medical has obtained FDA clearance for 7 products, CE certification for 21 products, and MDSAP certification for 11 products. Its products are sold in more than 70 countries and regions worldwide, including Brazil, Spain, Turkey, Italy, and Canada. According to Frost & Sullivan, Vantedge Medical ranked first in stapler exports for five consecutive years from 2016 to 2020.

In the future, with the continuous advancement of minimally invasive surgery and stapler technologies, and the deepening market promotion efforts by Chinese enterprises, we will undoubtedly see an increasing number of stapler brands step onto the international stage to compete alongside multinational corporations!