Biomet Spine - Give Us Liberty or Give It Death!

On Monday, Biomet reported that sales from spine related products rose 1% to $62 million last quarter. During a July 13th earnings call Jeff Binder commented that the company was looking to place an emphasis on "highly differentiated" products. So what is Biomet leaning on in the short-term? Binder stated that the company was hoping that the Polaris (a deformity system), the Solitaire (an anterior system), and the Trivium (a derotational system) would stimulate lagging spine sales.

Supposedly, "upgrades are coming, and some pretty neat product ideas" will come to market later in the year. But the question must be asked, is Biomet a real player in the spine market when you compare it to other legacy companies? Binder whom is regarded as one of the "good guys" in the industry has his hands full at this company. He inherited a spine management team that was dismantled by Dane Miller on that Black Monday when he flew into New Jersey and terminated the likes of Pastena, Bracco and the rest of the clan that wasn't really doing anything except milking their time. Prior to that, EBI spine was viewed as a dog, and to this day many in the industry do not really view them as a threat. Binder is hoping that by integrating the Trauma division to Warsaw, Poland during the second quarter, this will allow those lucky enough to remain in Parsippany, NJ to focus their efforts on spine. The trauma people just don't know how good life can get in Warsaw until they get there. TSB would recommend that they stop over at Bob's for dinner and Spike's Beach Grill (Volleyball is in) and have a drink on TSB. But remember, always be aware of who is lurking around you, DePuy and Zimmer spies are all around.

With sales lagging primarily due to an inability to deliver sexy products, Binder stated that the numbers were affected by pressure on pricing in the overall market. Here's a word of advice for Binder. Spend some of Blackstone's, Goldman Sachs, KKR & Co., and TPG's money! Dane Miller was a great leader for his time. Unfortunately, Dane was one of the cheapest CEO's that TSB ever met. He knew how to take care of himself along with his lifelong buddies including nice Lear Jets and CC memberships at Stonehedge in Winona Lake. Pay your employees some more money, stop recruiting people telling them the cost of living is cheaper in Warsaw, and lastly do something with your trays and instruments. Marketing is about making something look sexy and expensive, even if it's a dog. Just look at Synthes trays and instruments. But that's been one of Biomet's achilles heel. In the end Binder's job is to position this company for a potential future sale, considering that was in the discussion as far back as late 2006 and early 2007.

Spine has always been the bastard stepchild for this organization, hopefully the powers to be can figure out what to do and spin this company off its balance sheets. TSB wants to know what our readers think?