Astura Medical Receives FDA 510(k) Clearance For Cervical and Lumbar HA PEEK Interbody Systems

CARLSBAD, CA – June 4, 2018 – Astura Medical, a high growth, innovative spine technology company, today announced that it received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its ALTA ACDF Interbody Spacers and HALF DOME Lumbar Interbody Spacers in PEEK-OPTIMAä HA Enhanced from Invibio Biomaterial Solutions.

Combining the clinically proven strength and versatility of PEEK-OPTIMA with Hydroxyapatite (HA), a well-known osteoconductive material that enhances bone apposition, PEEK-OPTIMA HA Enhanced provides an innovative biomaterial for interbody fusion devices. HA is fully integrated, not coated, into the PEEK-OPTIMA matrix, ensuring it is present on all surfaces and throughout the implant.

“As surgeons continue to explore different surface technology options, we are excited about the addition of HA PEEK to our suite of interbody solutions,” said Thomas Purcell, Vice President of Astura Medical. “It once again reinforces Astura’s commitment to providing our surgeon partners with differentiated technology to enhance their ability to provide the best in patient care.”

ALTA and HALF DOME HA PEEK are now commercially available in multiple footprint, height, and lordotic options for ACDF, PLIF, and TLIF procedures. In addition to the launch of their HA PEEK lineup, Astura will be introducing its MIS Percutaneous Screw System and Expandable Posterior Lumbar Interbody Cages later this year.

About Astura Medical

Astura Medical was formed in 2014 with the objective of creating a disciplined, multi-phased approach to developing, manufacturing, and distributing medical devices. With surgeon input and feedback at every stage of development, Astura has created an extensive line of devices of the highest quality and sleekest design.

The two essential pillars that contribute to Astura Medical’s success are high quality products and robust distribution channels. These pillars, combined with passion and innovation, are what drive the Astura team to achieve great success with developing devices and entering them into the marketplace.

For more information, please visit www.asturamedical.com or find us on LinkedIn.

Media Contact:

Steve Haayen

Astura Medical

858.472.8825

steve@asturamedical.com

Camber Spine Announces 510(k) Approval Of ENZA™-A Titanium ALIF

WAYNE, Pa.June 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — Camber Spine today announced that it has received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market its ENZA™-A Titanium Anterior Lumbar Interbody Fusion (ALIF) system, a unique, minimally invasive interbody fusion device providing integrated fixation.

Daniel Pontecorvo, CEO, said, “ENZA™-A leverages two of Camber Spine’s highly innovative platform technologies. The vast interest and success of our first generation ENZA™ (PEEK) with Duo Presa™ (Two Grips) anchor technology and our line of SPIRA™ products with Surface By Design™, inspired us to combine their defining attributes to create this next generation ENZA™-A Titanium ALIF.”

ENZA™-A Titanium ALIF is an interbody fusion device consisting of a 3D printed titanium body with a roughened surface that encourages bone growth onto the cranial and caudal surfaces of the device. The upper and lower faces are deliberately designed with pores that average 500 microns in diameter, the optimal environment for bone to grow and fully incorporate the implant with the vertebral bodies. The ENZA™-A Titanium ALIF has multiple openings to allow a large volume of autogenous bone graft to be easily packed into the implant to further facilitate fusion. Similar to the original ENZA™, this device features two sharpened anchor plates that are housed within the 3D-printed body until they are deployed into the adjacent vertebrae to provide fixation.

According to Seth Anderson, Executive Vice President of New Business Development and Surgeon Relations, “ENZA™-A Titanium ALIF was designed with the surgeon, O.R. staff, and safety in mind. Surgery time is reduced by the single, inline instrumentation used to insert the device, deploy the anchor plates, and lock it in place. Patient safety is increased by minimizing the size of the incision and retraction required for implantation of the device. With ergonomic instrumentation, this system is easy to use and makes implantation more streamlined. The ENZA™-A is the second device in the Camber Spine ENZA™-line of implants. This interbody, coupled with additional product launches expected later this year in the cervical and lateral markets, will continue to grow Camber Spine’s presence as a market leader and innovator in minimally invasive spine surgery technology advancements.”

The Camber Spine ENZA™-A Titanium ALIF is indicated for use with autogenous bone graft in patients with degenerative disc disease (DDD) at one or two contiguous levels from L2 to S1. It is intended to be used with additional FDA-cleared supplementary fixation systems. These implants may be implanted via a laparoscopic or an open anterior approach.

About Camber Spine

WHERE OTHERS SEE PROBLEMS, WE SEE OPPORTUNITIES. TRANSFORMING SURGEON FRUSTRATIONS INTO INNOVATIONS.

Camber Spine, LLP, is a fast-growing musculoskeletal implant company founded in 2010 bringing innovative, best-in-class products to the market, providing surgeons and their patients with better treatment options. The company is committed to delivering surgeon inspired new technologies to the spine market. Camber is an ISO 13485 certified medical device company. Camber Spine Technologies, located in Wayne, Pennsylvania, markets a line of proprietary musculoskeletal products nationwide through its exclusive distributor, S1 Spine. For further information please visit www.cambermedtech.com. For inquiries about ENZA™-A Titanium ALIF or distribution opportunities please call 484.427.7060.

All of Camber Spine Technologies’ products are proudly MADE IN THE USA.

SOURCE Camber Spine

Pivotal Clinical Trial Demonstrates Superiority of Anular Closure Compared to Standard Lumbar Discectomy

BOSTONMay 23, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — Intrinsic Therapeutics, Inc., a medical device company focusing on spinal disc therapies, today announced the publication of two-year results from a landmark, randomized, superiority clinical trial. The trial investigated the Barricaid Anular Closure Device (ACD) in comparison to today’s gold standard of discectomy without anular closure, for patients at higher risk of recurrent lumbar disc herniation.

The clinical trial included 554 randomized patients. Its purpose was to determine whether a microdiscectomy with a bone-anchored anular closure device resulted in lower reherniation and reoperation rates and increased overall patient clinical success, when compared to traditional lumbar discectomy without defect closure.

The two-year results that have now been published in The Spine Journal demonstrate that the use of a bone-anchored ACD following discectomy is superior to treating these high-risk patients with discectomy alone. The group treated with Barricaid had significantly lower rates of reherniation (12% vs. 25%, P <0.001), reoperations to address recurrent herniation (5% vs. 13%, P=0.001), and index-level reoperations (9% vs. 16%, P =0.01).

“In order to fully comprehend the benefit of treating these patients with an implant, it is important to realize that patients who are reoperated generally do not reach the same pain and functional improvement of patients who did not have additional surgery. The odds of not returning to work were nearly three times higher after a revision surgery. Barricaid cuts the rate of reoperations in half at 2 years, preventing chronic disability and improving quality of life,” explains Dr. Matthew McGirt, Adjunct Research Associate Professor at the University of North Carolina, who was not involved in the study.

In addition, the rates of serious adverse events related to either the implant and/or procedure was 7% in the Barricaid group and 17% in the control group (P=0.001), indicating that use of the Barricaid lowers the incidence of hospital readmissions.

“These study results shine a spotlight on the fact that if we add a device to a procedure that doesn’t otherwise have one, the treatment cohort experiences fewer related hospital readmissions, with a 40% reduction at two years. According to current follow-up data of up to five years this differential is maintained,” says Professor Claudius Thomé, Head of Neurosurgery at the University of Innsbruck, Austria, and one of the principal investigators of this trial. “Moreover, if a reoperation needs to be considered in a patient later on, the same revision strategies are possible with this implant as after microdiscectomy alone.”

About herniation and lumbar discectomy

The human intervertebral disc consists of an outer fibrous ring, the anulus fibrosus, which in case of herniation allows the inner gel-like center, nucleus pulposus, to come out through a defect in the anulus. Sciatica, characterized as radiating pain in the leg, is often caused by a herniated disc compressing the nerve. The estimated annual incidence of sciatica in Western countries is 5 cases per 1,000 adults. As it mostly affects a relatively young, active patient population, the economic consequences resulting from disability and absenteeism from work are significant. Surgery for a herniated disc is often only considered when conservative treatment options have failed.

Within the discectomy population, patients with large defects in their anulus following lumbar discectomy are at high risk of symptomatic recurrence and reoperation. According to literature, 30-40% of all discectomy patients fall into this group. With almost 500,000 discectomies performed annually in the United States alone, this poses a significant problem not only for the patients affected, but for society as a whole.

About Intrinsic Therapeutics

Intrinsic Therapeutics is a medical device company focused on delivering a safe treatment to improve efficacy in patients who are at a disproportionately high risk of requiring repeat surgeries due to reherniation following lumbar discectomy surgery. Intrinsic Therapeutics currently markets and sells the Barricaid in EuropeAustraliaMexico, the Middle East and selected countries in other regions around the world. In the United States, Intrinsic Therapeutics is seeking regulatory approval of the Barricaid Anular Closure device. See www.barricaid.com for more information.

Barricaid is a registered trademark of Intrinsic Therapeutics, Inc.

CONTACT:
Cary Hagan
President and CEO
617-784-4147
clinical@in-thera.com

SOURCE Intrinsic Therapeutics, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.barricaid.com

Safe Orthopaedics Acquires a Direct Sales Force in the United Kingdom

June 01, 2018

ERAGNY-SUR-OISE, France–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Regulatory News:

SAFE ORTHOPAEDICS (FR0012452746 – SAFOR) (Paris:SAFOR), a company specialising in the design and marketing of single-use implants and instruments facilitating the minimally invasive treatment of spinal fracture conditions, is today announcing a deal to acquire the sales force of UK company Qspine, which specialises in distributing medical equipment for spinal surgery.

Since 2014, Qspine has distributed Safe Orthopaedics in the UK. The UK is Europe’s second largest market for spinal fusion surgery, worth an estimated €105 million, including €12 million for spinal fracture conditions alone.

“With the confidence resulting from our growing market share in France and initial positive signs in Germany, we are extending our direct distribution network in Europe by acquiring the sales force of our long-standing UK distributor. This sales force consists of four experienced salespeople and has delivered solid adoption of our technology with limited resources. We will gradually increase commercial resources and marketing efforts in the UK, and we intend to realise the full potential of our technology in the UK market with the medium-term aim of matching our current market share in France. These sales will contribute to the growth of the group as of the second semester of 2018,” said Pierre Dumouchel, CEO and co-founder of Safe Orthopaedics. “By selling our SteriSpine technologies directly to hospitals, we will improve our overall gross margin while also becoming more competitive and more flexible in terms of our selling prices. We are also very interested in promoting Qspine’s single-use illuminated retractor technology, which will be an excellent fit with our range.”

Qspine’s SURE retractor has recently obtained the CE mark and is now commercially available. The SURE system consists of a single-use, sterile radiolucent retractor, offering surgeons a genuine alternative – in both technical and economic terms – to traditional reusable products, while also offering a novel integrated illumination option. Safe Orthopaedics become the sole distributor of the SURE system in France, and will promote it in the UK.

“I believe this collaboration will benefit both companies. It will allow Safe Orthopaedics to quicken the pace in the UK market and gain quick access to accounts by using the unique SURE retractor. I look forward to working closely with Safe Orthopaedics to allow more surgeons to experience the many benefits that SteriSpine and SURE can deliver,” added Alan Lawson, CEO of Qspine.

Forthcoming financial events:

  • General Shareholders’ Meeting, Thursday June 28, 2018
  • Second-quarter 2018 revenues: July 10, 2018 (after the market close)

About Safe Orthopaedics

Founded in 2010, Safe Orthopaedics is a French medical technology company that offers the safest technologies to treat spinal fracture. Delivered sterile, all implants and respective disposable instrumentation are available to the surgeon at any time, any place. These technologies enable minimally invasive approaches, reducing risks of cross contamination and infection in the interest of the patient. Protected by 17 patent families, the SteriSpine™ Kits are CE marked and FDA cleared. The company is based at Eragny-Sur-Oise (France), and has 37 employees.

For more information, visit: www.SafeOrtho.com

About the SURE retractor

For more information, visit: www.suresystem.com

Contacts

Safe Orthopaedics
François-Henri Reynaud, +33 (0)1 34 21 50 00
CFO
investors@safeorthopaedics.com
or
Investor Relations
NewCap
Julien Perez / Valentine Brouchot
+33 (0)1 44 71 94 94
SafeOrtho@newcap.eu
or
Press Relations
Ulysse Communication
Bruno Arabian, 06 87 88 47 26
barabian@ulysse-communication.com
or
Nicolas Daniels, 06 63 66 59 22
ndaniels@ulysse-communication.com

Spineology Rampart One™ Standard ALIF Interbody Fusion System Gains FDA Clearance for Stand-Alone Use

June 04, 2018

ST. PAUL, Minn.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Spineology Inc., announces FDA clearance of its Rampart One™ Standard ALIF device allowing it to be used with or without supplemental fixation.

“Following the success of our beta launch, this stand-alone clearance will provide additional momentum as we prepare for the full market release of the Rampart One ALIF Interbody Fusion System,” said John Booth, CEO of Spineology.

The Rampart One ALIF Interbody Fusion System is another anatomy-conserving technology from Spineology. The system includes both standard and oblique interbody devices, each with integrated fixation screws and is designed to minimize vascular retraction and exposure to maximize safety. Additionally, Rampart One is manufactured from Invibio® PEEK-OPTIMA® HA Enhanced material to support bone on-growth.

“Minimal retraction and minimal exposure are very important for the anterior approach. The Rampart One instruments work collinear with the access, providing surgeons the ability to keep the incision to a minimum,” said Dr. Jeremy Shore of Boston, Massachusetts. “Additionally, divergent fixation screw angles and midline screw placement keep vascular retraction to a minimum.”

“Advanced biomaterials are showing great promise in enhancing patient outcomes. It’s very exciting to have access to an implant like Rampart One which is constructed from PEEK-OPTIMA HA Enhanced”, said Dr. Clifford Tribus of Madison, Wisconsin.

PEEK-OPTIMA HA Enhanced provides improved osteoconductive surfaces for bone on-growth while preserving the traditional benefits of PEEK-OPTIMA Natural including a modulus of elasticity similar to that of human bone, reduced stress shielding and artifact-free imaging.

About Spineology Inc.
Spineology Inc. provides innovative, anatomy conserving spinal technologies for surgeons and their patients. Spineology surgical techniques conserve spinal bone, ligament and muscle tissue. Spineology is committed to increasing procedural efficiency, reducing surgical morbidity and accelerating patient recovery. Learn more at spineology.com.

Contacts

Spineology Inc.
John Booth, 651-256-8511
jbooth@spineology.com
or
Risdall
Dave Folkens, 651-286-6713
dave@risdall.com

Medicrea Receives World’s First and Only FDA-Clearance to Market Patient-Specific Cages

May 31, 2018

LYON, France & NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The Medicrea® Group (Euronext Growth Paris: FR0004178572 – ALMED), pioneering the convergence of healthcare IT and next-generation, outcome-centered spinal device design with UNiD ASI™ (Adaptive Spine Intelligence) technology, announced today that it has obtained the first and only 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) to market patient-specific spinal cages through the extension of its UNiD™ technology to select from its IB3D™ range of 3D-printed titanium interbody devices.

With this world-first clearance, Medicrea is able to digitally plan, manufacture in-house and supply a 3D-printed device in the United States that has been optimized to follow each patient’s unique spinal anatomy using the Company’s proprietary AI-driven UNiD technology.

The current treatment method involves a time-consuming process where surgeons implant a cage from a limited range of standard dimensions during the surgery. This traditional technique represents a significant share of the operating time where the surgeon must test between the available sizes to find the implant that is most suitable for the patient but remains a compromise as it will not be optimized for that patient’s anatomy or that surgeon’s plan.

With UNiD IB3D™, the implant-selection stage disappears, reducing the operating time, and the patient benefits from an implant that is perfectly adapted to their anatomy and to the parameters defined during preoperative planning.

The approval marks further evidence that Medicrea has established its expertise as a leader in patient-specific technology for the Spine as the first company to develop and receive FDA clearance for a patient-specific spinal implant in November of 2014 with the UNiD™ Rod.

Subsequently, the Company has expanded its UNiD ASI™ (Adaptive Spine Intelligence) platform into a robust outcome-centered process by developing its own FDA-cleared surgical planning software (UNiD HUB™).

The UNiD ASI™ platform is powered by data, which it transforms with machine learning and predictive modelling, and is accompanied by a suite of patient-specific implants and engineering services able to transform the way spinal surgeons operate today.

Medicrea has successfully completed more than 2,400 surgeries with patient-specific implants.

By harnessing the power of an exclusive and growing clinical and radiographic data set, the Company is uniquely able to deliver further immediate and short-term cost-savings to healthcare stakeholders.

Denys Sournac, President and Chief Executive Officer, stated, “We are proud to achieve another world-first with this most recent FDA-clearance of UNiD IB3D™. It will enable Medicrea to significantly extend our reach in the U.S. market. By expanding our groundbreaking UNiD technology to cages, we are continuing to revolutionize spinal surgery. Patients have an implant that is optimized for their anatomy and pathology, surgeons are able to operate more efficiently, and hospitals are able to significantly reduce the processing cost and simplify supply chain logistics. Additionally, we are now able to increase the share of revenue generated by Medicrea implants in each patient-specific UNiD™ surgery in both degenerative and complex spinal indications where cages are frequently used – market segments that represent an estimated annual value of over $5 billion in the United States alone.”

The algorithmic generation of patient-specific cages within the UNiD HUB’s Analyzer tool is achieved using proprietary methods based on measurements around X-ray or MRI patient imaging. These methods are supported and protected by three unique patents acquired from Dr. Paul McAfee, of University of Maryland St. Joseph’s Medical Center, around a novel technique for physiologically identifying the optimized implant based on anatomical parameters.

About Medicrea (www.medicrea.com)

Through the lens of predictive medicine, Medicrea leverages its proprietary software analysis tools with big data and machine learning technologies supported by an expansive collection of clinical and scientific data. The Company is well-placed to streamline the efficiency of spinal care, reduce procedural complications and limit time spent in the operating room.

Operating in a $10 billion marketplace, Medicrea is a Small and Medium sized Enterprise (SME) with 185 employees worldwide, which includes 50 who are based in the U.S. The Company has an ultra-modern manufacturing facility in Lyon, France housing the development and production of 3D-printed titanium patient-specific implants.

For further information, please visit: Medicrea.com.

Connect with Medicrea:
FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | TWITTER | WEBSITE | YOUTUBE

Medicrea is listed on
EURONEXT Growth Paris
ISIN: FR 0004178572
Ticker: ALMED
LEI: 969500BR1CPTYMTJBA37

Contacts

Medicrea
Denys Sournac
Founder, Chairman and CEO
dsournac@Medicrea.com
or
Fabrice Kilfiger,
Chief Financial Officer
fkilfiger@Medicrea.com
Tel: +33 (0)4 72 01 87 87

Outcomes of Oblique Lateral Lumbar Interbody Fusion (OLLIF) Surgery Positive for all Levels of Patient Obesity

Inspired Spine announced publication of a peer reviewed study comparing the surgical outcomes of its Oblique Lateral Lumbar Interbody Fusion (OLLIF) procedure with those of traditional open spine surgeries known as transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF) and minimally invasive TLIF (MIS-TLIF) in patients with a BMI of 30 or greater. The study showed that OLLIF was the safest surgery at any BMI and significantly safer for patients with higher BMI.

“Obese patients are generally considered to be high risk for complications associated with spinal fusion surgery and this study shows that patients undergoing OLLIF may avoid the increase in complication rate,” said Hamid Abbasi, M.D., Ph.D., FACS, FAANS, Chief Medical Officer. “Our practice has substantially advanced spinal fusion surgery and we are actively working to share these advancements with surgeons who want to bring greater value to their spinal fusion patients.”

Based upon successful outcomes from more than 800 patients, Inspired Spine’s goal is to make OLLIF the global standard of care for spinal fusion surgery. Inspired Spine is hosting a three-day OLLIF training event for medical professionals, including operating room observations beginning on July 26th. To reserve a spot in the training session, call (727) 697-7463 or email AlyMunch@InspiredSpine.org.

Study Overview 
The study is a retrospective cohort evaluation of 321 patients at a single Minnesota hospital who underwent TLIF, MIS-TLIF or OLLIF for spinal conditions including, degenerative disc disease, spondylolisthesis, spondylosis, herniation, stenosis and scoliosis. Body mass index, surgery time, blood loss and hospital stay were measured across the three patient cohorts. The OLLIF cohort showed significantly reduced blood loss relative to TLIF. Surgery time increased significantly with increasing BMI for patients undergoing both TLIF and MIS-TLIF. A one-point increase in BMI increased surgery time and blood loss significantly in the TLIF cohort.

Obesity and Lower Back Pain 
The risk of lower back pain is directly related to increases in BMI. Individuals with a BMI of equal to or greater than 30 are obese; those with BMI of 40 are morbidly obese. Lower back pain may increase sedentary lifestyle, which can lead to further increases in BMI. Lumbar fusions are common surgical procedures for conditions associated with lower back pain. However, some surgeons may refrain from offering surgery to obese patients due to concerns about higher rates of complications and challenges. Surgical procedures that minimize these complications offer greater opportunity for relief for these patients.

About Inspired Spine 
Minnesota-based Inspired Spine is a total spine care provider dedicated to improving treatment value and outcomes by applying the least invasive solutions to back-pain problems. Inspired Spine Centers offer a variety of treatment options for chronic back pain sufferers – from advanced diagnostic technologies, such as open, upright MRIs, to a range of conservative non-surgical therapies, in addition to unique minimally invasive outpatient keyhole surgical techniques. The company is building a network of comprehensive care centers that offer conservative care, such as physical therapy and pain management, as well as groundbreaking minimally invasive outpatient surgeries that reduce costs and speed recovery for patients. Inspired Spine recently acquired a property consisting of three buildings totaling 120,000 square feet in Burnsville, MN where it is building its Total Spinal Health and Technology Campus. Inspired Spine has already employed this new venue to scale its global training program, enabling more surgeons to learn its techniques. For more information, visit http://inspiredspine.com/ and follow Inspired Spine on Twitter @Inspired Spine.

Xoran and Fiagon Collaborate in the Neuro and Spine Markets

ANN ARBOR, Mich.May 31, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — Xoran Technologies and Fiagon AG Medical Technologies have agreed to expand their existing relationship and to collaborate in the Neuro and Spine markets.

As technology-driven companies, Xoran — a leader in compact, point-of-care CT scanners, and Fiagon — a leader in easy-to-use, electromagnetic surgical navigation systems, have leveraged their agility in delivering timely innovative products that are responsive to the specialized needs of their physician customers.

At the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) meeting in New Orleans last month, Xoran introduced xCAT IQ, a truly portable compact CT scanner for the Neurosurgical suite and the ICU. Feedback from Neurosurgeons has been positive — they shared their excitement about the image quality and maneuverability of xCAT IQ, and they were particularly impressed with its ability to display CBCT images in all multi-planar projections with highly precise geometric accuracy.

The Fiagon Brain Navigation System presents a complementary match with Xoran’s xCAT IQ — it is a uniquely small, plug-and-play surgical navigation system, meticulously designed with the neurosurgeon in mind. In line with the Fiagon company philosophy, the Fiagon Brain Navigation System packs the power of navigation into a small system that optimizes workflow, thereby saving valuable OR time.

The Xoran-Fiagon Collaboration

Xoran and Fiagon have a history of successful collaboration. Last year, the companies cooperated on a research project aimed at improving surgical workflow. The seamless and automatic registration procedure described in the white paper “Optimization of Intraoperative CT with Automatically-Registered Surgical Navigation” demonstrated that using a low-dose imaging technique and an automated registration method make it possible to provide high-quality intraoperative images with submillimeter IGS accuracy at the skull base, all in just under two minutes. Contact info@xorantech.com to obtain a copy of the white paper.

Moving toward Neuro and Spine

With the announcement of the world’s most compact and maneuverable iCT (intraoperative CT) designed for neurosurgeons — xCAT IQ, Xoran is poised to expand its collaboration with Fiagon — with products that improve workflow and accuracy in the neurosurgical suite and ICU.

“As Xoran is developing various neuro-specific features that are tailored to help surgery be more efficient and effective, it makes sense for us to work with Fiagon and other top companies on new projects and products in Neuro — Cranial and Spine,” stated Xoran CEO Misha Rakic. “Xoran has a long-standing record of successful grants from the National Institute of Health (NIH), and we are looking to further our collaboration with companies who make unique products that improve patient care.”

Fiagon had similar thoughts. “Indeed, as Fiagon expands into Neuro worldwide as well as Spine, working together just makes sense as both of our companies are passionate about point-of-care solutions designed specifically for the surgeon,” explained Fiagon’s CEO Dr. Kai Desinger.

With several active collaborative projects on the horizon, Xoran and Fiagon aim to help Neuro and Spine surgeons in both the OR and the ICU improve patient care.

Trust ENT innovation leaders — Xoran and Fiagon — to take physicians further in Neuro and Spine.

© 2018 Xoran Technologies LLC

CONTACT

Paul Dykstra, Marketing & Communications Manager
800-70-XORAN
info@xorantech.com

SOURCE Xoran Technologies

Related Links

https://xorantech.com

Titan Spine ‘turns it to eleven’

May 28, 2018 – by  / BizTimes Milwaukee Business News

With a proprietary surface technology and a runway of private equity investment, Titan Spine LLC has, to borrow a phrase from the cult classic film “This is Spinal Tap,” turned its growth up to 11.

The Mequon-based medical device developer was established after surgeon Dr. Peter Ullrich came up with the idea to make interbody spinal implants out of titanium instead of plastic to better encourage bone growth.

It turns out, he was on to something.

Titan Spine launched in 2006 and has since created a sea change in its industry vertical. Over the past 10 years, it has grown at a rate of more than 40 percent per year. More than 70,000 of its devices have been implanted, it has more than 50 patents and the company has grown to $63 million in revenue. Titan Spine recently raised $15 million in a private equity round.

Early days

In 2002, when he was working as a spine surgeon in Neenah, Ullrich was seeking a medical device that wouldn’t damage a portion of the spine called the end plate in an interbody fusion procedure, but there wasn’t one. He had identified a problem.

“We were doing threaded cages. They were titanium cages but they were round,” Ullrich said.

“Structurally, it didn’t make a lot of sense to me and the cages would tend to do something called subside, which the cage would work its way into the bone.”

He came up with a new design by changing the dimensions of the cage and providing a surface to keep the cage in that didn’t damage the end plate.

So Ullrich contacted his friend at spine and orthopedic biosurgery company Orthovita Inc. (now part of Stryker Corp.) to develop the device, Endoskeleton TA. By 2004, the Endoskeleton had received FDA clearance for use as a vertebral body replacement and Ullrich was using it in patients.

But Ullrich’s product didn’t receive FDA approval at Orthovita as an interbody fusion device.

Ullrich decided to form a new company around his invention, which bought back the business from Orthovita, and Titan Spine was born. He brought on friend Kevin Gemas to manage the business side and Steve Cichy to focus on sales. Ullrich, now chief executive officer, and Gemas went to high school together in Plymouth.

“We became best friends and he went into surgery, I went into football and business, and then we came back together on this idea,” said Gemas, now president of Titan Spine.

Gemas previously owned KWG & Associates Inc., and founded and served as president of College Bound Student Athletes.

The pair started Titan Spine out of an apartment in Sheboygan Falls, putting in their own money, raising money from friends and family, and growing the business organically, investing any profits back into the business for eight or nine years.

While most spinal implants on the market were made of plastic, the Endoskeleton was made of titanium.

“We were like the rebels. Very few people had titanium and we were one of the only ones that (used) titanium and we kept preaching our surface technology years earlier,” Gemas said.

Surgeons were used to inserting a plastic implant, then surrounding it with biologic material, such as a bone graft, that would encourage bone growth at the site. But Titan Spine contends the biologics, which can be expensive, are not needed because the proprietary grooved nanoLOCK surface on the devices it has developed is a strong enough encouragement for bone growth.

“We wanted to make a device that participated in the fusion process instead of just being a spacer,” Gemas said.

With its nanoLOCK products, Titan has been able to reduce the amount of time patients are taking opioids and shorten the recovery time, Ullrich said.

 

READ THE REST HERE

 

K2M Receives FDA Clearance for BACS® Patient-Specific Module

LEESBURG, Va., May 30, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — K2M Group Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTWO) (the “Company” or “K2M”), a global leader of complex spine and minimally invasive solutions focused on achieving three-dimensional Total Body Balance, today announced U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 510(k) clearance for BACS® Patient-Specific devices. With the BACS Surgical Planner, surgeons can create pre-contoured rods, rails, and templates that match the surgeon’s preoperative plan. This is K2M’s fifth module within the BACS platform, and its first clearance for patient-specific devices.

“Templated, pre-contoured rods have made a big difference to my practice,” said Carmen Petraglia, MD, spine surgeon at South Hills Orthopaedic Surgery Associates in Pittsburgh. “Pre-contoured rods take out a huge question factor in terms of time. With pre-contoured rods, you save time by not having to contour your rods during surgery.”

K2M manufactures BACS Patient-Specific Rods and Rails using a machine rolling method, replacing the manual three-point bending method that often reduces rod fatigue strength. By incorporating data from BACS Surgical Planner, rods and rails can be manufactured with complex multi-contoured designs. BACS Patient-Specific Rods and Rails can be used with the MESA®, EVEREST®, and DENALI®Spinal Systems.

“Personalized solutions for treating spinal deformity is a positive development for patients who may benefit from having surgery tailored to their unique needs,” said K2M Chairman, President, and CEO Eric Major. “K2M is excited to realize this vision, as evidenced by our first regulatory clearance for BACS Patient-Specific devices. When coupled with our BACS Surgical Planner, K2M is well-positioned to become an industry leader in creating patient-specific devices, with an ultimate goal of facilitating 3D spinal balance and improved quality of life.”

K2M’s BACS Surgical Planner provides surgeons with a comprehensive tool to preoperatively measure and record a patient’s skeletal parameters to obtain baseline measurements that aid in the creation of BACS Patient-Specific Rods. BACS Surgical Planner is part of K2M’s Balance ACS® (or BACS) platform, which provides solutions focused on achieving balance of the spine by addressing each anatomical vertebral segment with a 360-degree approach in the axial, coronal, and sagittal planes, emphasizing Total Body Balance as an important component of surgical success.

For more information about K2M’s complete product portfolio, visit www.K2M.com. For more information on Balance ACS, visit www.BACS.com.

About K2M

K2M Group Holdings, Inc. is a global leader of complex spine and minimally invasive solutions focused on achieving three-dimensional Total Body Balance. Since its inception, K2M has designed, developed, and commercialized innovative complex spine and minimally invasive spine technologies and techniques used by spine surgeons to treat some of the most complicated spinal pathologies. K2M has leveraged these core competencies into Balance ACS, a platform of products, services, and research to help surgeons achieve three-dimensional spinal balance across the axial, coronal, and sagittal planes, with the goal of supporting the full continuum of care to facilitate quality patient outcomes. The Balance ACS platform, in combination with the Company’s technologies, techniques and leadership in the 3D-printing of spinal devices, enable K2M to compete favorably in the global spinal surgery market. For more information, visit www.K2M.com and connect with us on FacebookTwitterInstagramLinkedIn and YouTube.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements that reflect current views with respect to, among other things, operations and financial performance.  Forward-looking statements include all statements that are not historical facts such as our statements about our expected financial results and guidance and our expectations for future business prospects.  In some cases, you can identify these forward-looking statements by the use of words such as, “outlook,” “guidance,” “believes,” “expects,” “potential,” “continues,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “could,” “seeks,” “predicts,” “intends,” “plans,” “estimates,” “anticipates” or the negative version of these words or other comparable words. 

Such forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties including, among other things: our ability to achieve or sustain profitability in the future; our ability to demonstrate to spine surgeons and hospital customers the merits of our products and to retain their use of our products; pricing pressures and our ability to compete effectively generally; collaboration and consolidation in hospital purchasing; inadequate coverage and reimbursement for our products from third-party payers; lack of long-term clinical data supporting the safety and efficacy of our products; dependence on a limited number of third-party suppliers; our ability to maintain and expand our network of direct sales employees, independent sales agencies and international distributors and their level of sales or distribution activity with respect to our products; proliferation of physician-owned distributorships in the industry; decline in the sale of certain key products; loss of key personnel; our ability to enhance our product offerings through research and development; our ability to maintain adequate working relationships with healthcare professionals; our ability to manage expected growth; our ability to successfully acquire or invest in new or complementary businesses, products or technologies; our ability to educate surgeons on the safe and appropriate use of our products; costs associated with high levels of inventory; impairment of our goodwill and intangible assets; disruptions to our corporate headquarters and operations facilities or critical information technology systems or those of our suppliers, distributors or surgeon users; our ability to ship a sufficient number of our products to meet demand; our ability to strengthen our brand; fluctuations in insurance cost and availability; our ability to remediate the material weaknesses in our IT general controls; our ability to comply with extensive governmental regulation within the United States and foreign jurisdictions; our ability to maintain or obtain regulatory approvals and clearances within the United States and foreign jurisdictions; voluntary corrective actions by us or our distribution or other business partners or agency enforcement actions; recalls or serious safety issues with our products; enforcement actions by regulatory agencies for improper marketing or promotion; misuse or off-label use of our products; delays or failures in clinical trials and results of clinical trials; legal restrictions on our procurement, use, processing, manufacturing or distribution of allograft bone tissue; negative publicity concerning methods of tissue recovery and screening of donor tissue; costs and liabilities relating to environmental laws and regulations; our failure or the failure of our agents to comply with fraud and abuse laws; U.S. legislative or Food and Drug Administration regulatory reforms; adverse effects associated with the exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union; adverse effects of medical device tax provisions; potential tax changes in jurisdictions in which we conduct business; our ability to generate significant sales; potential fluctuations in sales volumes and our results of operations over the course of a fiscal year; uncertainty in future capital needs and availability of capital to meet our needs; our level of indebtedness and the availability of borrowings under our credit facility; restrictive covenants and the impact of other provisions in the indenture governing our convertible  senior notes and our credit facility; worldwide economic instability; our ability to protect our intellectual property rights; patent litigation and product liability lawsuits; damages relating to trade secrets or non-competition or non-solicitation agreements; risks associated with operating internationally; fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; our ability to comply with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and similar laws; increased costs and additional regulations and requirements as a result of being a public company; our ability to implement and maintain effective internal control over financial reporting; potential volatility in our stock price; our lack of current plans to pay cash dividends; potential dilution by the future issuances of additional common stock in connection with our incentive plans, acquisitions or otherwise; anti-takeover provisions in our organizational documents and our ability to issue preferred stock without shareholder approval; potential limits on our ability to use our net operating loss carryforwards; and other risks and uncertainties, including those described under the section entitled “Risk Factors” in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC, as such factors may be updated from time to time in our periodic filings with the SEC, which are accessible on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.  Accordingly, there are or will be important factors that could cause actual outcomes or results to differ materially from those indicated in these statements.  These factors should not be construed as exhaustive and should be read in conjunction with the other cautionary statements that are included in this release and our filings with the SEC.

We operate in a very competitive and challenging environment. New risks and uncertainties emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for us to predict all risks and uncertainties that could have an impact on the forward-looking statements contained in this release. We cannot assure you that the results, events and circumstances reflected in the forward-looking statements will be achieved or occur, and actual results, events or circumstances could differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements.

The forward-looking statements made in this press release relate only to events as of the date on which the statements are made. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or review any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as required by law. We may not actually achieve the plans, intentions or expectations disclosed in our forward-looking statements and you should not place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements. Unless specifically stated otherwise, our forward-looking statements do not reflect the potential impact of any future acquisitions, mergers, dispositions, joint ventures, investments or other strategic transactions we may make.

Media Contact:
Zeno Group on behalf of K2M Group Holdings, Inc.
Christian Emering, 212-299-8985
Christian.Emering@ZenoGroup.com

Investor Contact:
Westwicke Partners on behalf of K2M Group Holdings, Inc.
Mike Piccinino, CFA, 443-213-0500
K2M@westwicke.com