
Advances in medicine have allowed people in developed countries to live longer, but at a cost: An increased lifespan raises a patient's likelihood of developing health issues such as angina or incontinence. The market for urinary incontinence products, in particular, represents a promising growth opportunity for healthcare companies. According to business intelligence services provider Euromonitor International, retail sales of adult incontinence products
could reach $5 billion worldwide in 2010 and is expected to increase at a compound annual growth rate of 6 percent to 2014. That's a higher growth rate than any tissue or hygiene sector.
The urological device market is expected to experience strong growth as well. Market research firm iData
forecasts that the U.S. market for urological devices to treat conditions such as incontinence and prostate cancer will more than double in value by 2016 to $5.4 billion. Growth is anticipated to be driven by improved diagnosis rates, particularly for prostate cancer. Companies in the urological device space include
Uroplasty, which has developed an electrical stimulation system and tissue bulking material to treat incontinence; and
Novasys Medical, developer of a non-surgical procedure that utilizes radiofrequency energy to treat tissue within the lower urinary tract.
A relatively new company in this space is
EMKinetics, a medical startup that uses electric pulse therapy to treat urinary incontinence. Earlier this year, the California-based company
brought in $2.8 million of a targeted $3.35 million round of equity. The company previously
raised $500,000 in September 2008. One of its backers is
TheraNova, a San Francisco-based biomedical device holding company. According to the
San Jose Business Journal,
EMKinetics licensed its neurostimulation technology from
TheraNova.
Interested parties will have a chance to learn more about
EMKinetics at the next OneMedForum healthcare conference, to take place on January 11-13, 2011 in San Francisco. Visit
http://www.onemedplace.com/forum to discover why the OneMedForum San Francisco 2011 presents a valuable opportunity for investors to connect with the promising life sciences companies poised to change the face of healthcare.