Disruptive Technology In Hair Restoration Therapy
Restoration Robotics: Disruptive Technology In Hair Restoration Therapy
Summary
Medical technology with the potential to change the hair transplant industry, founded by a co-founder and first CEO of Intuitive Surgical.
Multibillion-dollar market with little competition.
The razor/razor blade model creates a sustained revenue growth engine.
With increased ease of treatment and competition, prices for hair transplants could decline, further expanding the market.
Restoration Robotics has commercialized a robotic therapy that reduces the workload of hair transplant physicians who perform follicular unit extraction (FUE).
The ARTAS System was cleared for marketing by the US FDA in 2011, and has been slowly building a potential juggernaut in the unique field of hair restoration therapy.
The ARTAS System currently assists in the extraction of the follicle and the preparation of the implant sites. HAIR is currently working on technology to also assist with the implantation of the hair follicles.
Once that additional functionality is added to the system, the robot will truly have the potential to transform the industry and fundamentally shift the field of hair transplant therapy.
Market
The overall market for hair restoration is approximately 35 million men in the US, the 11% have male pattern baldness.
Applying the 11% ratio across the world, one could imagine a potential total market of 300 to 400 million men. Obviously, the number of men who decide to take surgical action will be much lower.
According to the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery (ISHRS), there were 133,136 hair restoration procedures performed in 2016 in the US, representing only 0.4% of the addressable US market (Source: 2017 ISHRS Practice Census Survey). Worldwide, there were over 600,000 procedures performed.
In 2004, FUE represented less than 10% of procedures. The more common surgical approach was follicular unit transplantation (FUT), also known a strip surgery because the doctor removes a ½ inch by 8 inch strip from the back of a patient’s head and then used that strip as a source of follicles to transplant into the baldness area. In 2014, FUE increased to 49% of procedures.
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