From niche Player to Full-scale Portfolio – LINK Group in Transformation.
LINK Group saw an opportunity in the broader joint replacement market and transitioned from a niche revision company to a primary portfolio player. We spoke with Peter Willenborg, Managing Director and CEO, about how the strategic decision led to a new era of growth for the company, the health of the joint replacement market, the future of enabling technology and the challenge of working in Europe under MDR.
by Carolyn LaWell (ORTHOWORLD's) on March 06, 2025
Waldemar Link (LINK) saw untapped opportunities in the market and made the strategic move to transform from a specialist
in revision and oncology joint replacement implants to a full-fledged primary provider. It’s been several years since the company finished building out its portfolio
of knee, hip and shoulder implants, and the decision has led to significant growth.
LINK grew 16% in 2024 vs.2023, well above ORTHOWORLD’s estimated joint replacement average of 5.4%.
Managing Director and CEO Mr. Peter Willenborg attributes LINK’s growth to multiple factors, including investments
in new product introductions, the ability to stave off supply chain constraints due to 95% of its manufacturing completed in-house,
and its expanding presence in the strong U.S. market.
“Our main target for 2025 is scaling up the whole organization,” Mr. Willenborg said. “
We’re experiencing fast growth, and we need to scale production and support processes
to maintain our high level of customer service worldwide.”
Founded in 1948, LINK remains one of the largest private independent companies in orthopedics. We spoke with Mr. Willenborg about the trends he’s closely watching in the joint replacement market and how they are shaping his vision for the company’s future.
How would you describe today’s joint replacement market?
Mr. Willenborg:The joint replacement market is driven by the megatrend of a growing aging population and their expectations to maintain an active lifecycle. This will continue in the future. We’re experiencing the market growing faster than before the pandemic in the United States and other markets. I believe that this environment is a new normal because the megatrends are kicking in more than they did before, and we’re seeing faster-growing demand for revision products.
What are the specific opportunities for LINK in today’s market?
Mr. Willenborg:There are many opportunities at the moment. Our core business of solutions for complex revisions and oncology is a segment that has grown a lot. The increase in primary procedures in recent years has led to even faster growth in revisions — that is our biggest opportunity. We’re seeing more complex revisions that require very specialized solutions, which is what we offer, whether through our standard products or custom-made solutions.
The second area we believe will continue to grow faster than the market in the coming years is our primary portfolio. We developed a complete portfolio for primary hip, knee and shoulder. Our portfolio has been in the market for about three years, and we’re collecting very promising clinical data. Now we’re able to roll out the portfolio on a much broader scale. This will lead to additional opportunities that are even difficult to predict at the moment.
What drove the decision to build a primary portfolio?
Mr. Willenborg: We were looking for growth opportunities. We had very stable customer relationships for our revision business and knew surgeons were looking for better primary procedure solutions. It was hard to execute that shift, but it was an easy decision because of the growth opportunity.
We developed our products by collecting input from a large number of high-level surgeons all over the world, especially in the United States. The development took about eight years and a huge investment by the company. We finished the new products and received market clearance in 2021 and 2022 in Europe — just before MDR, which was important — and the U.S. Since then, we’ve shifted our focus to scaling and growing the company.
How has MDR informed your strategy in Europe?
Mr. Willenborg:MDR is a dominating topic in Europe. We received our MDR certificates, so it’s not as big of an issue for us anymore. But it was a huge investment in work and money for the organization. There are certain niche products that we were not able to register and keep in our portfolio anymore, which is not good for patients.
The challenging part moving forward is the registration of new products because it will take far more time than before the regulation was implemented. I believe Europe is now five years behind the rest of the world in innovation. Our company will have a stronger focus on R&D projects in the U.S., where FDA has a transparent system for product registration. Innovations from LINK will go to the United States first.
In-process and final inspections
You offer pre-op planning and have robotic partnerships. Will we see more enabling technology in your portfolio in the future?
Mr. Willenborg:Technology is playing a more important role in our industry, even though clinical evidence doesn’t always support it. However, young surgeons are trained using robotic systems and technology is advancing, so there’s no doubt that there is a place for technology in our industry.
Our strategy follows two pathways. One is to embrace very specific solutions where there’s nothing similar to the technology on the market, and we can’t access it through partnerships. In those instances, we will develop and launch technology. The first is the CORE System.
We will also embrace strategic partners that offer open-platform technology. We work with THINK Surgical in the U.S. and OrthoKey in Europe to have access to robotic systems. We’re also working with ArthroLense as they build image-guided surgical solutions. We believe open platforms are the best solution for hospitals so that they can use them as a recruiting tool, buy broad products and choose whatever system they want to use.
Do you see a difference in interest in enabling technology in the U.S. vs. Europe?
Mr. Willenborg: The United States is more open to technology and faster in adopting it. The interest is growing in Europe, but I doubt the market share for these technologies will be as high as it is in the United States. Also, MDR is making it more challenging to introduce technologies in Europe.
You offer custom devices. How does that fit into your portfolio and overall strategy?
Mr. Willenborg:Custom devices are an integral part of our offering for severe revision and oncology cases. Our philosophy is that we want to offer a solution for every case; we never want to leave the customer on their own. Custom implants require high effort, and we’ve done more than 40,000 of them for all parts of the body.
Custom implants are often the basis for trustful relationships and broader collaboration with the customer. There’s an interesting effect where we get helpful input for the development of standard implants. When we see more and more of a certain type of revision, our R&D team talks to the surgeons and then makes iterations to our primary products, including our OptiStem.
LINK’s PorEx ceramic-type coating was developed to reduce metal ion release.
What upcoming product launches are you particularly excited about? I saw you just received FDA 510(k) clearance for your CORE Shoulder System.
Mr. Willenborg:Yes, CORE Shoulder is a smart tool that will help surgeons perform more precise and faster procedures, shortening surgery time. It is a very relevant product launch at the moment.
If we look at the knee, we are still busy launching our new primary to early revision knee system, the LinkSymphoKnee System. It is our biggest product launch in recent years, and we are still in the early stages. It’s a very versatile system and offers many options including our PorEx ceramic type coating for reduction of metal ion release.
Our revision segment is launching the OptiStem for patients with poor bone quality, large bone losses and a history of implant loosening. OptiStem is used with our knee and distal femoral replacement system and offers long-term stability in very severe cases.