dj Orthopedics, Inc. (DJO)
Interview with: Mr. Leslie H. Cross, President and CEO
Business News, Financial News, Stocks, Money & Investment Ideas, CEO Interview
and Information on their rigid knee braces, soft goods,
specialty and other complementary orthopedic products including cold therapy and pain
management. |
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A
full range of innovative products, a large R&D facility and the best sales force has
made dj Orthopedics the clear market leader
Healthcare
Medical Equipment & Supplies
(DJO - NYSE)
dj Orthopedics, Inc.
Mr. Leslie H. Cross
President and
Chief Executive Officer
Interview conducted by:
Diane Reynolds
Co-Publisher
CEOCFOinterviews.com
June 2003
dj Orthopedics is a global orthopedic sports medicine
company specializing in the design, manufacture and marketing of products and services
that rehabilitate soft tissue and bone, help protect against injury and treat
osteoarthritis of the knee. Its broad range of over 600 existing products, many of
which are based on proprietary technologies, includes rigid knee braces, soft goods,
specialty and other complementary orthopedic products including cold therapy and pain
management. These products provide solutions for patients and orthopedic sports
medicine professionals throughout the patient's continuum of care. Mr.
Leslie H. Cross, President and CEO of dj Orthopedics, Inc. tells us, “We offer a full range of products. We were just awarded the
Broadlane contract, which is the one of the largest national accounts in our industry.
One of the reasons why we were successful with that account is because we can bring
the whole product range to them. They don’t have to sign contracts with four or five
of our competitors to get the full range. That is one of the reasons why people buy from
us. Also, the continuous flow of innovative products. Our competitors seem to have smaller
product ranges. They are not quite as nimble at developing products across the whole
spectrum. Additionally, the service that we provide, sets the industry’s standards
and customer service and quality.” “We have a
fairly robust portfolio of patent protection but that is only part of the way that we
protect our products.” Continues Mr. Cross, “Another way is by our size of
distribution and through our continuous product innovation. Patents alone aren’t
necessarily what protect the product. We are clearly the market leader in knee braces with
roughly 40% market share and probably 20 competitors worldwide. We have the largest
product range, the largest R&D facility and largest sales force. So, when you package
all of that together that is how you protect your franchise not just through patented
property.” Commenting on recent developments with their flagship products, Mr. Cross says, “Our flagship knee brace
which has a patented Four Points of Leverage design, has just been improved with a new
version that has a patented ForcePoint hinge that has a patented hinge, which really
de-accelerates the knee as it goes into full extension. That I believe is the 13th
or 14th improvement of this product that we have introduced in roughly as many
years. We are constantly looking for ways to make our products more comfortable for the
patient, that is lighter weight, stronger and adding some new and patented features to it
like the hinge I described. It is an ongoing process. We launched in the first
quarter five new products, we launched eight in the second quarter and we have a pipeline
of more in the coming year. Some of those are truly are new products that will take us
into the new segments and some of them are product line extensions to round out our
product lines for customers, so it is a continual process.” Addressing the
investment community, Mr. Cross points out that, “A significant number of orthopedic companies are public and the
investors that are with those companies have done very well and so I think that makes our
space intriguing. Our valuation compared to other companies is substantially lower because
of the performance improvement plan we entered into last year. I think that people, who
understand that there is an aging and active population out there, can see the future need
for our products and a future need for our company.”
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