Össur’s mission is to improve people’s mobility and our vision is to continue to be a leading company in the noninvasive orthopaedics market globally. Össur is ...

Our Business. Ossur.com

Össur’s mission is to improve people’s mobility and our vision is to continue to be a leading company in the noninvasive orthopaedics market globally. Össur is a pioneer of advanced technology and by listening to our end-users and understanding their needs, as well as continuously improving and pushing the boundaries of technology, we continue to create some of the best products and services available in Prosthetics and Bracing & Supports. Our aim is to create a Life Without Limitations® for all our end-users. 

Össur will continue to generate value for individuals and healthcare systems by focusing our business strategy on valuable product innovation, delivering profitable and sustainable growth, and efficiency.

We embrace innovation in all our actions by creating value for our customers through technology trade-up and ease of doing business to ensure our consistently strong position in the market.

In 2021, Össur continued to invest around 5% of sales in research and development, amounting to USD 32 million, and launched 14 new products to the market. 

In 2021, Össur’s next generation Power Knee was introduced and received good feedback. The Power Knee is the world’s first actively powered prosthetic knee. This new version of the knee is ideal for amputees seeking increased assistance from their prosthetic device and those who require better symmetry, more natural gait, and increased participation in the daily activities they enjoy. The introduction of the new Power Knee marks a new era in powered prosthetics and is the result of years of research and development expertise as well as patient and clinician feedback. Össur has championed actively powered knee technology for over 15 years, understanding that the added benefit of power improves patient’s short and long-term outcomes. 

Össur also successfully launched the new Sport Solutions offering that Össur and Nike partnered to design for athletes, leveraging Össur’s expertise in running prosthetics with Nike’s traction and sole technologies. Össur’s renowned Cheetah® running feet design was improved and a specific long jump foot was included. The Cheetah® feet are compatible with the Nike Traction SoleX, an interchangeable sole system and a new generation of the Nike Spike Pad and five new alignment adapters were introduced. 

In addition, Össur launched a variety of products within Bracing & Supports during the year. Amongst product launches were knee braces under the Rebound® umbrella, adding to a versatile portfolio of high-quality injury recovery solutions for all the stages of treatment, from rehabilitation to recovery. 

Furthermore, Össur is creating solutions for ease of doing business for our customers, such as the Össur portal as well as applying innovative technology to enhance processes. Össur fosters an inclusive and innovative culture with its diverse workforce. 

Össur has a strong IP portfolio, with more than 2,000 patents and patent applications and the Össur brand is protected by more than 500 trademark registrations. In 2021, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) ranked Össur second in the world for top patent applicants in conventional mobility assistive technologies.

We will achieve profitable and sustainable growth by generating value for individuals, customers and healthcare systems.

Organic sales growth was 10% in 2021 in line with the guidance for the year. Organic growth was especially strong in the EMEA and APAC regions apart from Australia that was more affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Although affected by the pandemic, sales in Americas, our largest market, continued to normalize. Bionic sales growth was strong in all regions towards the end of the year, indicating that Bionics are back on track. This reconfirms our belief that the long-term prospects and underlying fundamental drivers of the prosthetics and bracing & supports markets are not expected to change. We have taken on challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic throughout the year and managed to maintain our product supply and continued our investments in our global growth platform as well as in research and development. 

Össur has grown through a combination of organic and acquisitive growth with a Compounded Average Sales Growth rate of 17% since the Company was listed in year 1999. Össur’s main growth priorities are Technology Trade-up, Emerging Markets, partnership services and solutions and acquisitions. 

Össur’s strategy includes exploring growth opportunities through acquisitions that support our vision of being a global leader in non-invasive orthopaedics. In the past years, Össur has both acquired and divested part of the business to strengthen the focus and support future growth of Prosthetics and Bracing & Supports. 

Emerging Markets offer a significant growth opportunity as penetration of prosthetics and bracing & supports products is still relatively low. We continued to invest in growing our Emerging Markets platform and further strengthened our direct sales and infrastructure.

We deliver profitable and sustainable growth

We run efficient operations in the most optimal locations, hire passionate employees and deliver strong profit and cash flow through manufacturing and operational efficiency.

Gross profit for 2021 amounted to 63% of sales compared to 62% of sales for 2020. Össur’s manufacturing sites and warehouses operated at normal capacity, within local COVID-19 restrictions, but the gross profit margin was affected by temporary variable cost increases and related negative impact on productivity.

The EBITDA margin for 2021 was 21%, in line with the guidance for the year. The EBITDA margin is slightly below a normalized level, mainly due to the slow-down in sales as a result of COVID-19 impact on sales in the second half of 2021, in addition to supply chain related cost increases. Furthermore, throughout the COVID-19 impacted period, Össur has continued to invest in research and development, made investments in digitalization initiatives and grown the infrastructure in Emerging Markets by going direct in seven new markets in the Eastern part of Europe in 2021.

Össur has been investing in an increasingly scalable infrastructure. As an example, the global manufacturing platform is consolidating with about 12 fewer locations since the year 2009. Investments have been made in centralized procurement (strategic sourcing) and implementation of a new CRM platform. The shared service center in Poland supports around 60% of Össur’s entities and the global IT department which is supporting the majority of Össur‘s entities. Össur emphasizes manufacturing efficiency and a continuous improvement culture while protecting the environment. Össur has been actively reducing the carbon footprint of the Company and reached the milestone of being Carbon Neutral in 2021.

Our Business

Our Strategy

Innovation

Growth

Efficiency