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For over 150 years, Smith & Nephew has developed advanced medical devices for healthcare professionals around the world. Our pioneering technologies enable nurses, surgeons and other medical practitioners to provide effective treatment more quickly and economically.

Smith & Nephew operates in high growth markets driven by ageing demographics and technology’s ability to enable patients to live longer and enjoy more active lives. With the help of our innovative equipment, patients enjoy improved mobility and rapid recovery from surgery.

Smith & Nephew is an industry leader in each of our three main Global Business Units - Orthopaedic Reconstruction and Trauma, Endoscopy and Advanced Wound Management. These businesses jointly offer over 1,000 product ranges.

Our global infrastructure continues to expand each year. We currently operate in 32 countries and generate annual sales of $3.8 billion. Substantial investment in our products and intensive research and development means that we are always ahead. Figures from last year show that we stand at number one as the leading company in Arthroscopy. We are the second largest organisation in Advanced Wound Management and number three in Trauma and Clinical Therapies. We are also positioned at number four in Reconstruction.

Smith & Nephew has a track record of bringing innovative new products to market that provide better clinical outcomes for patients and save costs for healthcare providers. This is the primary focus of our fourth business unit, Biologics.

Growth Markets

Over the last five years, the Company has grown revenues from $2,301 million to $3,801 million in 2008. Smith & Nephew is now the UK’s largest medtech company and one of the top companies in its field in the world.

Our three main areas of the business are focused upon markets that are already substantial and offer significant growth potential, fuelled by the following factors:

Ageing populations worldwide

On average, people are living longer. To retain a high quality of life well into their later years, they are more likely to need joint replacements and treatment for other conditions.

An increasing trend towards minimally invasive surgery

New tools and techniques are enabling surgeons to operate more effectively and carry out procedures that were not previously possible. Crucially, patients experience less trauma and recover faster.

More informed patients demand improved treatments

The more that modern healthcare can promise people, the more they expect of it - a cycle that is stimulating demand and innovation.

Greater product innovation and sophistication

The key to satisfying the needs of patients and the medical profession is to develop technically advanced devices that offer new treatment possibilities, thereby expanding the market - as Smith & Nephew is committed to doing.

The new technologies

The introduction of technologies like OXINIUM^◊ material for hip and knee implants and products such as the BIRMINGHAM HIP^◊ Resurfacing (BHR^◊) and the JOURNEY DEUCE^◊ knee are expanding the patient base and therefore the market, providing opportunities to treat younger patients. In the last year Smith & Nephew added Negative Pressure Wound Therapy, a major technology, to the Advanced Wound Management business.

Close to customers and patients

To help patients regain their lives more quickly and fully, we work with healthcare professionals on emerging new technologies and techniques. Our world-class, specialised salesforce provides frontline support to our customers and enables us to gain greater understanding of their needs. This commitment is underpinned by a unique range of education and training programmes designed specifically for healthcare professionals. Strong relationships with healthcare professionals are fundamental to our business. To earn their trust and confidence we know we must always behave with absolute integrity.

Research and development

Our business strategy is based on researching, developing, manufacturing and marketing technically innovative and advanced medical devices. In 2008 we invested $152 million in our highly regarded research and development activities - a figure that is currently around 4% of sales. The Biologics business unit, headquartered in North Carolina in the US, has strategic responsibility for product innovation and development and serves the needs of all the business units. Our dedicated research facility, the Smith & Nephew Research Centre located in York, provides specialised skills and resources. Our direct contacts with healthcare providers are a vital link in the chain. Clinicians' views of their present and future needs provide essential impetus for our own research work.

We have three focus areas of cross-business research: novel bioresorbable polymers, tissue or cell engineering, and non-invasive stimulation. Scientific Review Boards, comprising eminent academic scientists and medical professionals, provide independent assessments of the quality of the science and engineering in our business unit programmes and guidance on emerging science as necessary.