Orthopedic News Roundup 25-May-06
BY HUYEN NGUYEN, MAY 25, 2006
Appointment: IsoTis OrthoBiologics appointed Barbara Boyan to its Board of Directors. Ms. Boyan is a co-founder of OsteoBiologics, Inc. (OBI) and a professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology and at Emory University.
Clinical Update: In the June issue of Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine, a study conducted by the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) showed that patients suffering from degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) with spondylolisthesis showed significant improvement with St. Francis’ X STOP® than with steroid injections and other non-operative treatments during two-year follow-up. At the Arthroscopic Association of North America (AANA) two studies showed that ArthroCare’s Coblation® devices were effective in treating symptomatic chondral defects in the knee. At the Spine Arthroplasty Society (SAS), two doctors presented positive results of 246 stenosis patients receiving Paradigm Spine's coflex™ spinal implant.
Earnings: Medtronic announced its fiscal year and 4Q:06 earnings results this week. For the quarter, spinal revenues reported a decent 18% growth in constant currency, and 17% ($582 million vs. $498 million) as reported. For FY2006, total spinal sales grew 20% or $2.1 billion compared to $1.8 million in FY2005.
Licensing Agreement: Cytomedix, Inc. specializes in the area of chronic wound healing. The Company entered into a licensing agreement with Biomet Biologics, Inc., a subsidiary of Biomet (BMET), for $2.6 million. According to the terms, Cytomedix will receive $1.4 million upfront and $100,000 each quarter for the next three years; it will also receive royalty-free license to certain BMET’s platelet gel product. In exchange, Cytomedix will grant BMET a worldwide non-exclusive license under its key "Knighton" patent for all applications of its autologous platelet releasate therapy except in the area of chronic, non-healing wound market.
Product Introduction & Update: Wright Medical Group, Inc. launched its next generation of ODYSSEY™ Distal Cut First (DCF) instruments for minimally invasive total knee replacement procedures. The ODYSSEY™ DCF MIS instruments allow smaller incisions with less invasive tissues cut of the knee. This instrument set is used with Wright’s ADVANCE® series of knee products. At the Current Concepts in Orthopaedic Surgery in Las Vegas, Exactech's Equinoxe™ Shoulder System was featured by a live surgery broadcast with more than 1,000 surgeons participated in the educational program.
Miscellaneous: Bone & Joint Hospital of Oklahoma was ranked at the top by CMS for centers participating in hip and knee replacement care, according to Orthopedic Today (subscription required) June 2006 issue. The center received $249,000 in the first year of the Premier Hospital Quality Incentive demonstration project. Janet Farhood, Executive Vice President & COO commented that the hospital has infection rate of well below 1%. InMotion Musculoskeletal Institute was given $3.6 million by The Plough Foundation and the Assisi Foundation of Memphis Inc. to help jump-start its biotech activity. InMotion is based Memphis, Tenn. Its mission is to promote Memphis as the nation's center for orthopedics and other musculoskeletal research. A reminder that The St. Anthony's Hospital in Effingham, IL is hosting a live surgery webcast of the Stryker's Triathlon® MIS Total Knee Arthroplasty today at 5:00PM CDT.
