Times are tough, but we are not giving upWe aim at building new plans

„We live in strange times. We receive rewards for being a successful company in various competitions and yet we had to dismiss 20 % of our employees, who had been working with us for many years. We are really sorry about that. However, we would not be able to cope for too long, with revenues steadily decreasing and no end of the covid-19 crisis in sight,” explains Pavel Milata, sales manager of Beznoska, a world-renowned manufacturer of joint and bone implants. He admits that last year he first realized how easily an entrepreneur can find himself “on the edge of the cliff”.

„We did use the state programmes supporting companies affected by the covid-19 crisis, but the long-term decline in sales of our major products, such as hip and knee implants, hit us hard in all aspects. Except emergencies, healthcare has been significantly limited and now, as a matter of fact, orthopedic surgeries completely stopped. Despite that, we make effort to keep our experienced working team, although we do not see the light at the end of the tunnel yet. If we stopped production altogether, we probably wouldn’t be able to restart the company again,” the company founder’s grandson describes the current situation, which is challenging for the management as well as ordinary staff both financially and mentally.

“Experienced employees with a specific know-how would be seeking a job somewhere else, where they would have to be trained for a different specialization and it is unlikely that they would ever come back. What’s also sad about the current situation is that many of them have been with the company for years and they appreciate the family atmosphere here.”

Unpredictable certification the biggest stumbling block

In 2016, researchers from the Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences (AV CR) came up with a method which allows modifications to the structure of joint implant material with the use of ionic radiation. The greatest benefit of the new method would be lifetime extension of the implant by up to 25 %. Beznoska also took part in the research, for which they received an award by the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic (TACR). Clinical trials, which are set by law and take six months, were successfully completed and the project entered the certification stage.

„In the whole process of development, testing and approval which takes approximately five years, this is the least predictable stage. It may take months, even years, and the producer cannot even estimate how long the approval will take. This is because there is no clear time limitation for the certification authority, which means we cannot plan production or marketing activities. 

And, as if that were not enough, our business was affected by yet another factor in 2019. The already demanding certifications further tightened and became more costly. While two expert staff members were needed before, this adjustment means we would need at least five of them. Even for a proven product that we have been selling for thirty years, further tests are required now. This way, the documentation package gets five times bigger every five years. Certification fees for the innovated knee implant, which we were planning to launch in 2020, multiplied four times. All these barriers had an extremely negative budget impact, and our export activities went practically to a standstill in 2019. Back then we thought we would catch up in 2020, but currently SMEs in particular face a rather depressing forecast with no end to the suspended economy in sight, and no clear outlook on how to plan the remaining funds and keep their experienced staff.”      

Export plans are not dead

In the past years, the company sold 60 % of its production to the local market, while exporting the remaining 40 % to about fifteen other countries. Most of its exports went to Slovakia, where Beznoska set up its daughter company Beznoska Slovakia in 2001, post-Soviet countries, Portugal, and other EU member states. 

„We are not giving up, as we keep pursuing our plan to expand to Poland. It’s a big market, and we’ve been building a distribution and end user network there for some time now. Meanwhile, our plans to enter the US market are currently in a fog of uncertainty,” Pavel Milata reveals.

Since 2013, they’ve supplied hip and knee implants, but also with a total replacement of trapeziometacarpal joint – type T. Lubomír Trtík, deputy head of the orthopedic department at the Havlíčkův Brod Hospital, played a significant role in this development. Partial replacement of pelvis for oncological patients using CT data is also one of the most popular products. These replacements account for 40 % of export sales.

Pan-European cooperation

One way to cope in time of crisis is to cooperate with other smaller businesses in the field. “We established contacts with companies abroad who have a similar product portfolio, and we support each other’s sales in the respective markets. In one selection procedure, we found an interesting Italian company which delivers somewhat more sophisticated and more expensive implants, which complements our more economical solutions very well. They were a bit cautious at first as they thought that we might want to copy them. But that has gradually changed to a very friendly business relationship,” Pavel Milata reflects.

We established contacts with companies abroad who have a similar product portfolio, and we support each other’s sales in the respective markets.

When we last visited Beznoska in early autumn of 2018, the company was preparing an upgrade of its production cycle in new manufacturing premises that were just being built.

“I’m glad we managed to complete it and at least partly equip the premises with new machines about a year before the pandemic, because now it would be virtually impossible. We bought two multi-axis machine centres for working plastics and a milling-turning centre that speeds up and refines the operations previously carried out on several machines. Thanks to the new technologies we should be able to significantly increase our production capacity in future, reduce waste, and make the whole production cycle faster and cheaper,” Mr. Milata explains.

A gem among implants

Beznoska’s mini-invasive growing endoprosthesis of femur for pediatric patients with bone tumors can rightly claim such title. “Although it does not sell in such quantities as other items in our portfolio, because thankfully there are not many pediatric patients with this diagnosis, which means that the development and production costs will not be covered anytime soon, we are very proud of it,” Pavel Milata concludes.      

The idea of constructing a growing endoprosthesis came from Beznoska in response to demand from doctors who consider the use of a standard non-growing joint replacement for children inadequate. A healed limb does not grow, post-operative complications occur, and patients become disabled.

The project involved developers on the manufacturer’s side as well as a team of experienced orthopedists. The growing endoprosthesis by Beznoska is always designed on request according to the physical dispositions of the child and in cooperation with the attending physicians. In intervals, which are in accordance with the current growing condition of the patient, the endoprosthesis enables the growth of femur and blood vessels and nerves identically with the length of the unaffected limb. The project of individual oncological replacement became the absolute winner of the 2017 TACR Technology Agency award and received the title “Czech Idea” (Český nápad). It also received the “2017 Visionary” award (Vizionář 2017) from Czechinno association.

Written by Věra Vortelová

Translated by M. Hošková and D. Libertin

Photo: Archive of Beznoska