Healthcare firm acquires hip-replacement system

A HIP-REPLACEMENT system designed by four pioneering Sheffield surgeons has been acquired by healthcare company JRI Orthopaedics.

Professor Ian Stockley, Andrew Hamer, Robert Kerry and Simon Buckley formed Sheffield Medical Products (SMPL) eight years ago to bring to market a new total hip replacement system.

The first patients received their new AEON hips in September 2011 and over the last five years around 700 patients, largely in Sheffield, have received the implant.

JRI Orthopaedics has been the exclusive distributor of the AEON hip system.

Sheffield-based JRI has now acquired SMPL and will manufacture all AEON implants, which will be known as Avanteon.

Keith Jackson, chief executive of JRI Orthopaedics, said: “The Avanteon hip system will be fully integrated with our own developed products to provide a comprehensive total hip and hemiarthroplasty hip offering to the market. This is a hugely important step in our business growth strategy as we expect Avanteon to feature as a significant and increasingly important part of our product portfolio over the coming years.”

JRI Orthopaedics recently manufactured the implant for the first ever day patient to receive a hip replacement, with the patient returning home ten hours after the operation.