Adler Ortho: alleviating pain

Osteo-arthritis and osteo-arthrosis come with age, and where life-expectancy is higher, these conditions can be quite common – like in Europe. That creates a very large market for artificial joints that can be used to alleviate painful conditions. Adler Ortho is an Italian company specialized in design, production and commercialization of joint prostheses and other orthopaedic surgical devices. Based in Milan, the company has manufacturing subsidiaries in both southern Italy and in the north, with markets stretching beyond Europe to Japan, the US, Australia, and New Zealand. “If you look back,” says Edgardo Cremascoli, Director, “people like my grandmother just tended to sit around, not doing much. Today, 75-year-olds can still be very active. With ageing populations, this market is growing significantly,” he adds.

The business was founded by Edgardo, his brother and their father in 2007. But what of the name Adler? It means eagle in German, but the explanation is much more connected to local realities, as Edgardo explains: “In Italy, everyone pays late. It’s the way things are. And the lower you are in the alphabetical order of the list of creditors, the later you get paid. So Adler was a good choice.”

Cashflow is also important for the business in another way: “This is a capital-intensive business. When you develop a product, you need to stock the full range of sizes and the proper instruments for implanting. No hospital or clinic buys the whole stock but we are obliged to develop the full range. So, it’s quite capital-intensive and it’s difficult to self-fund in these situations, particularly when you’re growing. We grew 23% last year compared to 2019 and a further 21% this year.” To finance this growth, Adler Ortho sought an EU-guaranteed loan backed by the EIF through Intesa Sanpaolo. “The loan allowed us to focus on expanding the business, to acquire an Australian distributor and break into a new market.”

Looking ahead, the company is aiming to focus more on the secondary and tertiary markets. “That means, once the life of an implant has been completed, and you need a new one. These solutions are custom-made. It’s a different market, more interesting for smaller market players like us.”