Case study · Microline Surgical
Locked out by GPO contracts. So the strategy found a door that wasn’t contracted.
Microline Surgical set out to grow inside hospital Departments of Surgery after acquiring Starion, Inc.’s energy-based vessel sealing technology. Three incumbents held 80% of the market, and their bundled contracts made the front door effectively closed.
The outcome
By targeting ENT applications, the approach opened a new revenue pathway that bypassed the constraints of existing laparoscopic GPO contracts. Microline was able to create over a $5 million revenue stream in under five years.
The challenge
Microline Surgical, a growing medical device company, sought to improve commercialization effectiveness within hospital Departments of Surgery following its acquisition of Starion, Inc.’s energy-based vessel sealing technology. After Microline’s subsequent acquisition by HOYA Group (Japan), the company faced the challenge of driving adoption in short-term acute care hospitals and capturing share in a highly competitive market with an estimated $1.4 billion total U.S. addressable market.
Ethicon (J&J), Covidien and Olympus held 80% of the U.S. market share in the energy-based laparoscopic vessel sealing sector.
How to differentiate Microline Surgical’s energy-based technology and capture annual double-digit revenue growth in an entrenched market, where hospitals are regularly using competitive products from those companies? Price alone wasn’t a strategic way to differentiate enough.
The Bridge Strategy Blueprint™ in action
Following a series of meetings with executive C-Suite and VP leadership and field-based regional sales directors, it became clear that while a basic sales and marketing go-to-market strategy existed, there was no formalized commercialization plan. A comprehensive commercialization strategy and tactical roadmap was developed for the laparoscopic target market.
A critical barrier quickly emerged: despite strong interest from physician champions, adoption was constrained by hospital GPO pricing agreements. Incumbent competitors were deeply entrenched through bundled contracts tied to existing product portfolios, limiting Microline’s ability to enter hospitals or gain traction within the laparoscopic environment.
The solution
It became clear a new channel of company growth was needed, and that it required expanding beyond the laparoscopic channel. This insight drove a strategic pivot toward adjusting a DC current forceps originally designed for precise tissue management in cardiac procedures so that it could be used for Otolaryngology.
By targeting ENT applications, this approach opened a new revenue pathway that bypassed the constraints of existing laparoscopic GPO contracts, enabling ENT surgeons to evaluate and adopt the technology without triggering hospital contractual pricing restrictions.
Create uncommon company and technology awareness by prepping the market. Create attention through public relations, which leads to target market attraction and ultimately to high levels of curiosity, interest and adoption.
Why it worked
When uncommon and creative commercialization strategies and tactics are used, it benefits more than just the company gaining revenue and market share.
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