VUP Medical

What VUP Medical does

VUP Medical, a.s. is a Czech family-owned medical device manufacturer headquartered in Brno, Czech Republic, with a 75+ year heritage dating to its 1949 founding as the Knitting Research Institute (Výzkumný ústav pletařský). The company designs and produces a portfolio of class III implantable devices for vascular and hernia surgery, including knitted collagen-impregnated vascular prostheses (Ra K, Ra K Incompressible), vascular patches (Ra ZK), ePTFE grafts (AVATAR PTFE), polypropylene hernia meshes (PP MESH Standard and Large Pore), and implantable reinforcing felt (CORTEX). Manufacturing is vertically integrated at the Brno site, combining warp knitting of circular fabrics (1mm to 34mm diameter), WHOLEGARMENT 3D seamless knitting, in-house bovine Type I collagen production (ISO 22442, EDQM certified), and ISO 7 cleanroom operations under an ISO 13485-certified quality management system compliant with European MDR.

Name

VUP Medical

Legal name

VUP Medical, a.s.

Website

https://vup.cz

Company type

Private

Founded year

1949

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

VUP Medical is a Czech family-owned medical device manufacturer that designs and produces collagen-impregnated vascular prostheses, hernia meshes, surgical felt, and medical-grade collagen for hospitals and OEM customers in 40+ countries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Brno

HQ country

Czechia

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Medical Device Sales (Implants): Sale of proprietary medical devices including vascular prostheses, hernia meshes, wound care products, and surgical accessories directly to healthcare facilities and through distributors. Products are used in vascular surgery, hernia surgery, and wound treatment. Sold in more than 40 countries worldwide.
2. OEM and Manufacturing Services: Provides expertise and proprietary manufacturing technologies to other medical device manufacturers for development, prototyping, and production of their own medical devices or semi-finished products. Includes knitted textiles, collagen, and 3D printing services. Services provided in accordance with ISO 13485.
3. Collagen Raw Material Sales: Sale of medical grade bovine collagen type I to manufacturers as input material for their own medical devices. Available in gel and lyophilized foam variants. BSE status since 2015 negligible risk, exclusively from Czech Republic.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

VUP Medical is a Czech manufacturer of implantable medical devices, producing vascular prostheses, vascular patches, hernia meshes, reinforcing felts, and surgical accessories based on proprietary knitted textile and collagen technologies. The company also supplies OEM/contract manufacturing services — including bovine Type I collagen, knitted textile components, and 3D printing — to other medical device manufacturers, and offers selected patient-direct products such as stump stockings and post-radiotherapy underwear.

Product overview

VUP Medical is a Czech family-owned medical device manufacturer with 75+ years of research and innovation history since 1949. The company develops and manufactures a comprehensive portfolio of knitted medical devices for vascular and hernia surgery, including vascular prostheses (Ra K, Ra K incompressible, Ra ZK patch, AVATAR PTFE), hernia meshes (PP MESH Standard, PP MESH Large pore), and surgical reinforcing felt (CORTEX). All vascular prostheses incorporate proprietary bovine collagen coating technology. The company also produces raw materials (medical grade collagen) and provides contract manufacturing services (knitted textiles, 3D printing) for other medical device manufacturers. Products are used by hospitals in more than 40 countries worldwide.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Ra K: Knitted vascular prosthesis with collagen for arterial reconstructions, especially abdominal aorta and peripheral arteries.
• Ra ZK
• PP MESH
• CORTEX
• AVATAR PTFE
• ABDOEXPAND
• PRONA
• COM
• ARAVEL

Products and services

• Ra K - Knitted Vascular Prosthesis with Collagen
• Ra K Incompressible - Knitted Vascular Prosthesis with Collagen
• Ra ZK - Knitted Vascular Patch with Collagen
• AVATAR PTFE Vascular Graft
• PP MESH Standard - Hernia Mesh
• PP MESH Large Pore - Hernia Mesh
• CORTEX Implantable Reinforcing Felt
• ABDOEXPAND Abdominal Tissue Expander
• PRONA Stump Stockings
• ARAVEL Post-Radiotherapy Underwear
• COM Wound Healing Dressing
• Bovine Type I Collagen (Medical Grade) - Raw Material
• OEM Knitted Textile Manufacturing Services
• OEM 3D Printing Services (Cleanroom)

Named customers4 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Czech Technical University (ČVUT UCEEB)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2016Research collaboration with University Centre for Energy Efficient Buildings of CTU Prague (ČVUT UCEEB) for industrial research and experimental development. Project focused on innovative solutions for hydrogel products applied to existing COM burn wound dressings. Project duration: January 1, 2016 to December 31, 2019. Funded by EU from OP PIK.
• Lékaři pro Bénin (Doctors for Benin)minorOthersCharitable support in 2018 and 2019 for medical charity mission organized by Czech doctors. VUP Medical donated hernia meshes and wound dressing materials to support the mission.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• LeMaitre Vascular: Specialty vascular device company focused on vascular grafts, carotid shunts and patch products sold directly to hospitals. Closely comparable to VUP Medical's Ra K, Ra ZK and AVATAR PTFE vascular prosthesis portfolio given the same product category, surgical use cases, and specialty distribution model.
• Getinge (Atrium Medical): Getinge's Atrium Medical franchise is a direct competitor in vascular grafts (ePTFE and polyester) and surgical meshes. VUP Medical competes head-to-head with Atrium's vascular and hernia mesh product families across European and international tenders.
• W. L. Gore & Associates: Inventor of the GORE-TEX expanded PTFE vascular graft family, the leading direct competitor to VUP Medical's AVATAR PTFE line in arteriovenous access and peripheral bypass procedures. Gore also produces medical textiles and is the dominant benchmark competitor in the same implant category.
• Terumo (Vascutek): Through its Vascutek subsidiary, Terumo manufactures knitted and ePTFE vascular grafts used in aortic and peripheral reconstruction worldwide. VUP Medical's Ra K knitted vascular prosthesis competes against Vascutek's gelatin- and collagen-sealed graft lines on global vascular surgery tenders.

Broad incumbents

• BD (Becton Dickinson): Through its Surgery and Biosurgery segments BD sells hernia meshes and biologic surgical products. It is a broad incumbent competitor to VUP Medical in hernia repair consumables.
• Ethicon (Johnson & Johnson): Largest global player in surgical meshes including Proceed, Prolene and Physiomesh hernia products used in open and laparoscopic repair. VUP Medical's PP MESH Standard and Large Pore compete in the same surgical specialty against Ethicon at the bottom of the funnel.
• Medtronic: Acquired Covidien and now sells Parietex and Symbotex hernia meshes as well as a vascular surgery portfolio. Medtronic is a broad incumbent whose mesh and vascular lines overlap directly with VUP Medical's hernia and vascular implant businesses.
• B. Braun: Offers surgical meshes, suture reinforcements and a broad surgical implants portfolio through Aesculap. It overlaps with VUP Medical across hernia repair products and CORTEX-style surgical felt reinforcement.

Emerging players

• Secant Group: US-based contract manufacturer specializing in textile-based medical devices, biomaterials and implantable components. Comparable to VUP Medical's OEM knitted textiles and 3D printing service lines targeting other medical device manufacturers.
• Symatese: French biomaterials specialist producing medical-grade collagen and other animal-derived raw materials for implantable device manufacturers. Comparable to VUP Medical's collagen raw material business and the underlying ISO 22442 animal-tissue processing capability.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/vupmedical
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/vupmedical

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about VUP Medical