I need to size the U.S. market for hydrogel dressings used primarily
in wound care and treatment of burns. I would like to know the annual
dollars that hopsitals, nursing homes, etc. spend on these products.

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Request for Question Clarification by ragingacademic-ga on 18 Dec 2002 21:08 PST

keith4ski - 

Hi.  I've undertaken a pretty thorough search across several
proprietary databases, and what I have is the following -
1) Global market size, hydrogel dressings, as of 2002
2) Size of US Advanced Moist Wound Dressing market in 1998,1999 and
2001 - there are forecasts and growth projections as well, but no
breakdown; this is the segment of the wound treatment market that
includes hydrogel dressings.
3) Number and breakdown of hydrogel dresses marketed in the US.

I will also provide you with complete citations for all of these
studies (as well as the relevant quotes).  In addition, I did come
across a very thorough study of the global wound care market with a
lot of data and statistics; it is available online and I will provide
you with a link to this as well.

If that sounds sufficient in order to provide an answer to your
question let me know and I will post the reply.

Note that I could not find the breakdown by type of healthcare
facility that you had requested.

thanks,
ragingacademic

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Clarification of Question by keith4ski-ga on 19 Dec 2002 03:50 PST

I think the material you have found will suffice. Sizing the overall
marketplace is a good first step and once I have analyzed this
material, I'll be able to determine whether I need further drill down
info.  Thanks, Keith

Dear keith4ski,

Thanks for your question.  First, let me request that if any of the
following is unclear or if you require any further research – please
don’t hesitate to ask me for a clarification.

You requested information regarding the size of the U.S. market for
hydrogel dressings used primarily in wound care and treatment of
burns. Please note that all of the citations follow below in the
references section.

According to an article from August 2002 in Urethanes Technology, the
size of the global market for hydrogel dressings is approximated $300m
annually –

“CardioTech International Inc. has received Food and Drug
Administration clearance to manufacture and market its hydrogel wound
and burn dressing. The approval opens the door to what the company's
top executive claims is potentially a $300-million market globally.”

An article in Marketletter published in June 2002 quotes a Frost &
Sullivan study that says the “US Advanced Moist Wound Dressing
market…generated revenues totaling $288.5 million in 2001.”  The
Advanced Moist Wound Dressing market includes “alginate, hydrocolloid,
transparent film, foam, and hydrogel dressings.”  Frost & Sullivan
expect this market to grow to $523m by 2008.

In December 2000 Biomedical Market Newsletter reported that “the
advanced moist wound dressing market generated $249 mln in revenues in
1999.”  This represented growth of 5.2% over the previous year.  The
market was expected to continue to grow at a compound annual growth
rate of 4.6%.  The strongest categories in the segment were said to be
the hydrogel and foam dressing categories.

According to an April 2001 article in Home Healthcare Nurse there are
63 different types of hydrogel dressings marketed in the US today.  Of
these, 30 are amorphous, 19 are wafers, and the remaining 14 are
impregnated gauze.

I hope this response adequately addresses your request.  Please let me
know if you are in need of additional information concerning this
query.

Thanks,
ragingacademic


References:

Title: FDA ok's CardioTech's: FDA approves PU wound dressing--clears
way to $300M market. (US newslines)
Source: Urethanes Technology, 19 (4): 17(1), August 2002

Title: US chronic wound-dressing demand boosted by aging population
Source: Marketletter, June 24, 2002.

Title: US Advanced Wound Management Products Market
Source: Biomedical Market Newsletter, 10 (12): 85+, December 31, 2000.

OVINGTON, LIZA G. PhD, CWS. Wound Care Products: How to Choose. Home
Healthcare Nurse. 19(4):224-231, April 2001


Additional Links:

*** This is the market report I was referring to – it is very
comprehensive, but it does not have the level of breakdown we would
have liked to have seen -
Advanced Chronic Wound Technology Industry Report
http://www.auroracapital.com/adv%20chronic%20wound%20tech%20rpt.pdf


Search Strategy:

“hydrogel dressings” AND market

Information pertains to the category of wound care products and the
hydrogel dressings segment is not broken out so I know the entire
market but not the segment info I need