The rising incidence of degenerative disc diseases is fueling the demand for artificial discs across the world. According to the observations of the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), which is a branch of the U.S. government’s National Institutes of Health, 266 million people around the world are diagnosed with lumbar degenerative disc disease every year, with Europe recording the highest incidence of the disease (5668 people out of every 100,000 individuals).
Apart from the growing prevalence of the degenerative disc disease, the soaring geriatric population is also positively impacting the worldwide demand for artificial discs. According to the 2020 World Population Ageing report published by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), the population of people aged 65 years or above all over the world will rise from 727 million in 2020 to more than 1.5 billion by 2050. As geriatric people are highly vulnerable to the degenerative disc disease, their surging population is fueling the demand for artificial discs.
Additionally, these discs have various long-term cost benefits over the conventional spinal fusion procedures, which is further boosting their popularity around the world. Moreover, in artificial disc replacement procedure, surgery is required only one-time unlike the spinal fusion procedure, which requires several surgeries over a certain period of time. As per a study published by researchers working in the Rothman Institute and the Texas Bank Institute in the North American Spine Society (NASS) meeting in 2013, the average cost of cervical arthroplasty (artificial disc replacement) for a duration of 48 months was nearly $34,000.
This was less than the average cost of anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) for the same duration, that is, $39,000. Due to these factors, the popularity of artificial disc replacement is surging sharply, which is, in turn, fueling the expansion of the global artificial disc market. According to the forecast of the market research company, P&S Intelligence, the market value will grow from $1.0 billion in 2017 to $3.4 billion by 2024. Furthermore, the market is expected to progress at a CAGR of 18.8% from 2018 to 2024.
Artificial disc replacement procedures are required for treating both cervical and lumbar disc degenerative diseases. Between these, the demand for these procedures was found to be higher for treating cervical disc degenerative diseases in 2017. This is credited to the high incidence of cervical-related health issues across the world. Geographically, the popularity of artificial discs was found to be the highest in North America in 2017, mainly because of the existence of well-established disc producing companies in the region.
In the forthcoming years, the demand for artificial disc replacement procedures is predicted to surge sharply in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. This is attributed to the soaring population of geriatric people, increasing healthcare expenditure, and surging investments being made by private and public companies in the healthcare sector in the region. Moreover, with the growing prevalence of degenerative disc diseases, many artificial disc producing companies are focusing on mergers and acquisitions in order to cater to the mushrooming demand for artificial disc replacement procedures.
Hence, it can be safely said that the demand for artificial discs will rise sharply in the upcoming years, mainly because of the increasing incidence of degenerative disc diseases and surging population of geriatric people in several countries.
