For Immediate Release
October 24, 2025
Stryker, Sylke, Inc. and Vertex Pharmaceuticals Receive the 2025 AAHKS Industry Innovation Award
Oct. 24, 2025 (Dallas, TX) – The American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons (AAHKS) recognized Stryker, SYLKE, Inc. and Vertex Pharmaceuticals as this year’s AAHKS Industry Innovation Award recipients at the 2025 AAHKS Annual Meeting in Dallas, Texas.
The Industry Innovation Award is a competitive product award for companies exhibiting at the meeting, recognizing cutting-edge innovation in the field of orthopaedic hip and knee arthroplasty by exhibitors. All industry partners and exhibitors are invited to submit their newest products and services for the award.
The announcement for this year’s winners took place in the Exhibit Hall at the Annual Meeting. Representatives from all three companies were present to accept this prestigious honor. Winners will also record an episode on AAHKS’ official podcast – AAHKS Amplified. In this recording, the companies will discuss the details of their award-winning innovation.
The award-winning product submitted by Stryker is their latest advancement in Mako SmartRobotics™: Mako Total Hip with Advanced Primary and Revision. “Mako Total Hip with Advanced Primary and Revision is the first-to-market robotically-enabled revision hip solution. In a single application, Mako Total Hip now serves primary, complex primary and revision indications with advanced planning features like screw and augment planning, plus stem planning, which is now compatible with Restoration® Modular. Additional intraoperative features include bone mapping, cup clocking and more.”
SYLKE, Inc. is recognized for their product SYLKE® Skin Closure, which was developed by M. Mark Mofid MD, a board-certified reconstructive and plastic surgeon with over two decades of experience. Frustrated with the limitations of existing post-surgical skin closure and dressing options, Dr. Mofid turned to silk fibroin—a material renowned for its biocompatibility and water-resistance properties, which he had studied extensively years earlier for its medical applications—to create a unique silk fibroin woven mesh. His vision was to develop a topical skin closure dressing that could be used on clean incisions or simple lacerations, offering a comfortable, flexible, and breathable solution that effectively helps secure wound edge approximation for optimal patient outcomes. Twenty-two months later, SYLKE® has partnered with over 200 major health care systems, in pursuit of becoming the new standard of care.
Finally, Vertex Pharmaceuticals is recognized for JOURNAVX™ (suzetrigine), a first-in-class oral, non-opioid, highly selective NaV1.8 pain signal inhibitor for the treatment of adults with moderate-to-severe acute pain. NaV1.8 is a voltage-gated sodium channel that is selectively expressed in peripheral pain-sensing neurons (nociceptors), where its role is to transmit pain signals (action potentials). Because JOURNAVX blocks pain signals only found in the periphery, not in the brain, JOURNAVX provides effective relief of pain without the limitations of currently available therapies, including the addictive potential of opioids.
“AAHKS is excited to grant the Industry Innovation Award to Stryker, SYLKE, Inc. and Vertex Pharmaceuticals. AAHKS, our members and our Industry partners are focused on advancing the field of hip and knee replacement – and these awards give us an opportunity to highlight a few of the many successful innovations each year meant to improve clinical care,” said Cory L. Calendine, MD, AAHKS Industry Relations Committee Chair.
About the American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons
Established in 1991, the mission of AAHKS is to be the definitive global authority on excellence in hip and knee care. AAHKS has a membership of over 5,500 surgeons and other hip and knee health care professionals.
Contact:
Kenneth Robinson, Communications Manager
KRobinson@AAHKS.org
