CONMED Corporation


The CONMED Corporation is a publicly traded American manufacturer of medical equipment, primarily orthopedic, endoscopy, and general surgical tools. In 2021, orthopedics made up $550 million of its revenue. It is part of the S&P 600. It has manufacturing facilities in the United States and Mexico, and sales and distribution offices internationally.
Products made by CONMED include the Hyfrecator electrosurgical generator and insufflation systems.

History

In 1970, Eugene Corasanti purchased a small medical supplied distributor in Utica, New York. He originally named the company Concor Enterprises, but later renamed it to Consolidated Medical Equipment, Inc. Its first product was a disposable ECG electrode. Corasanti served as CEO until 2006 and chairman of the board until 2014. By the time he retired, CONMED had grown to around $700 million of sales.
In May 2003 CONMED was cited by the FDA for violations at its Colorado plant. Later in 2003, it filed suit against Johnson & Johnson, alleging that Johnson & Johnson was illegally coercing hospitals into purchasing their surgical instruments. A financial analyst for Zacks in 2006 criticized CONMED for taking on the financial strain of this suit, combined with poor growth and debt from recent acquisitions.
Eugene's son Joseph J. Corasanti replaced him as CEO in late 2006, which was criticized by some as nepotism. At the time, the board had consisted entirely of Utica-area residents. Joseph stepped down in 2014.
In July 2022, CONMED moved its headquarters from Utica to Largo, Florida. Its plant in Utica remains open.

Acquisitions

  • 1989: Aspen Labs from Bristol-Myers Squibb
  • 1995: New Dimensions in Medicine Inc. and the Birtcher Corporation, manufacturer of the Hyfrecator
  • 1997: Linvatec Corp, from Bristol-Myers Squibb
  • 2002: ValMed and NorTrex Medical
  • 2003: Core Dynamics and Bionx Implants
  • 2004: Endoscopic unit of C R Bard Inc
  • 2012: Viking Systems
  • 2016: SurgiQuest
  • 2017: ExoShape ACL product line from MedShape
  • 2019: Buffalo Filter
  • 2022: In2Bones and Biorez