Orthopedic News Roundup 6-Jul-06
BY HUYEN NGUYEN, JULY 6, 2006
Appointments: Tutogen Medical appointed Dr. Karl Koschatzky to the position of Managing Director. Dr. Koschatzky will replace Manfred Kruger, who was Tutogen's President of International operations and Managing Director of the German subsidiary. IsoTis OrthoBiologics appointed James William (Jim) Poser, Ph.D., as Vice President Research & Development and Chief Technology Officer. Dr. Poser is currently on the Scientific Advisory Board and has been an advisor to the Company since 2005.
Clinical Update: Invibio announced that at the 11th International BIOLOX Symposium, a poster presentation showed that orthopedic implants developed with (CFR) PEEK polymer may produce less wear compared to those implants developed using conventional UHWMPE-on-metal material combinations. Headquartered in the UK, Invibio is a worldwide manufacturer and distributor of (CFR) PEEK polymer. St. Francis Medical Technologies announced that a four-year follow-up study, published in the July issue of Journal of Spinal Disorders & Techniques, showed that patients suffering from lumbar spinal stenosis have significantly greater improvement after receiving St. Francis' X STOP® Interspinous Process Decompression (IPD®) System and remained stable over time. Aastrom Biosciences, Inc. has completed enrollment of all 36 patients for its Phase I/II multi-center long bone fracture trial using its cell-based Tissue Repair Cells (TRCs) for tissue regeneration. These patients will be followed for a period of twelve months with interim data collected at six months.
Financing: Tutogen Medical, Inc. completed a $3 million private financing with an accredited institutional investor last week. It also announced that the American Stock Exchange (AMEX) has accepted the Company's plan to regain compliance with AMEX's listings standards by filing its Form 10-Q on or before July 6, 2006.
Legal: Alphatec Holdings, Inc. announced a settlement agreement with Benchmark Medical Holdings, Inc. which relieves both parties of all severance and promissory note obligations between Benchmark and certain Alphatec employees who were previously Benchmark employees. Alphatec also announced that on June 26, 2006, Biedermann Motech GmbH and Depuy Spine, Inc. filed a patent infringement suit against Alphatec and several other companies related to U.S. Patent No. 5,207,678. Biedermann owns the patent and DePuy Spine is the exclusive licensee of the patent.
Licensing Agreement: Alphatec Holdings, Inc. announced it has an exclusive licensing agreement with Dr. Hansen A. Yuan for commercial development of the doctor's patented technology for dynamic cervical plating systems. Alphatec has started development and anticipates a commercial product introduction in 2007.
Mergers & Acquisitions: Encore Medical announced last Friday that it entered into a definitive merger agreement with Blackstone Capital Partners V L.P. in a going private transaction for a total value of approximately $870 million in equity and debt financing. Blackstone offered Encore's shareholders $6.55 in cash for each share of Encore's stock they own, or 36% premium to the Nasdaq closing price of $4.81 on June 30, 2006.
Integra LifeSciences announced that it has acquired Kinetikos Medical, Inc. ("KMI"), a developer and manufacturer of small joint orthopedic implants and surgical devices, for $40 million in cash. KMI generated $11.4 million in revenues for the twelve month period ending on March 31, 2006. Integra expects to close this deal in 3Q:06.
VQ OrthoCare acquired the bracing division of OMNI life science, Inc. for an undisclosed amount. The acquired divisions included OMNI's orthopedic brace manufacturing and distribution business, as well as and OMNI's complete line of custom and ready to fit ligament instability and osteoarthritis bracing products. This deal was closed on June 30, 2006.
Regulatory Update: Today, Zimmer Holdings, Inc. FDA approval of its Premarket Approval Application (PMA) to market its Trilogy AB® Ceramic-on-Ceramic Acetabular System. The product has been sold outside the U.S. since 2001. The company plans on launching Trilogy AB within the next two weeks.
Miscellaneous: Providence Medford Medical Center in Medford, OR, announced that it recorded a 20% cost saving when using NuVasive's proprietary XLIF®(eXtreme Lateral Interbody Fusion) procedure for lumbar spine fusion surgery compared to a traditional ALIF (anterior) approach. Savings come in both "direct" (e.g. number of implants used) and "indirect" (e.g. length of stay, nursing care, supplies) procedure costs. At the 2006 Annual Meeting of the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine in Pennsylvania, a study conducted by Bruce D. Beynnon PhD and his colleagues showed that young men and women have different risk factors for first time ankle ligament injuries. Orthopedic surgeons are treating the baby boomer generation for more sports related injuries than the past; they have become the number two reason for doctor's visit after the common cold.
