Alphatec Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq:ATEC), a medical technology company focused on the design, development, manufacturing and marketing of products for the surgical treatment of spine disorders, announced today that veteran marketing executive, Kathryn Liljestrand, has joined the company as Vice President of Marketing. Mrs. Liljestrand will focus on sales and marketing strategies for near term product launches and bringing to market products from Alphatec's robust technology and intellectual property pipeline.
"Kathryn Liljestrand brings an extensive sales and marketing background that has been focused on the orthopedic spinal market to the Vice President of Marketing position at Alphatec," said Dirk Kuyper, Alphatec's President and Chief Executive Officer. "I am very pleased that Kathryn has joined our team and her expertise in product sales strategies and market development will be instrumental to Alphatec's near term new product introductions and longer term strategic initiatives."
"Alphatec has a strong foundation in which to build into the future and I am very excited to join a company that has such a tremendous opportunity ahead of it," said Mrs. Liljestrand. "Having spent the past twenty-seven years working in various sales and marketing capacities within various organizations, I look forward to bringing my experience and skills to Alphatec whose innovative technology and products are changing the spinal disorder marketplace for spine surgeons and their patients."
Since 2005 Mrs. Liljestrand was Vice President of Marketing for IsoTis Orthobiologics, a global leader in orthobiologics products for the treatment of musculoskeletal diseases and disorders. From 2000 to 2005, Mrs. Liljestrand served in various senior marketing and product development capacities at Smith & Nephew. From 1998 to 2000, Mrs. Liljestrand served as Senior Director of Sales for Surgical Dynamics and was responsible for $100.0 million in sales for the U.S. spinal products division. From 1996 to 1998, Mrs. Liljestrand served as Vice President of Marketing for Wright Medical Technology. From 1994 to 1995 Mrs. Liljestrand served as Senior Product Manager for Sofamor Danek Group, Inc., which was eventually purchased by Medtronic Inc. Mrs. Liljestrand holds a B.A. in English Literature from Siena College.
About Alphatec
Alphatec Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq:ATEC) designs, develops, manufactures and markets products for the surgical treatment of spine disorders. Alphatec's broad product portfolio and pipeline includes a variety of spinal implant products and systems focused on solutions addressing the cervical, thoracolumbar, intervertebral, minimally invasive, motion preservation, and allograft markets. Alphatec's "surgeons' culture" emphasizes collaboration with spinal surgeons to conceptualize, design and co-develop a broad range of products. State-of-the-art in-house manufacturing capabilities provide a unique competitive advantage, enabling Alphatec to rapidly deliver customized solutions to meet surgeons' and patients' critical needs. Alphatec has 22 issued U.S. patents, six issued foreign patents and 21 pending patent applications, including 10 pending U.S. applications, six pending international applications and five pending foreign national applications. Alphatec's principal product offerings are primarily focused on the global spine fusion market, which is estimated by Alphatec to be more than $5.9 billion in 2007. In addition to its U.S. operations, Alphatec also markets a range of spine and orthopedic products in Japan through its subsidiary, Alphatec Pacific, Inc. For more information, please visit www.alphatecspine.com.
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Forward Looking Statements
This press release may contain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that involve risks and uncertainty. Such statements are based on management's current expectations and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: Alphatec's ability to successfully design, develop, manufacture and market products for the surgical treatment of spine disorders and Alphatec's expectations regarding the continued growth of the U.S. and global spine market. Alphatec cautions investors that there can be no assurance that actual results or business conditions will not differ materially from those projected or suggested in such forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to, the following: Alphatec's ability to maintain its level of previously reported sales growth, Alphatec's ability to successfully leverage upon the experience of its Scientific Advisory Board, Alphatec's ability to develop and expand its spine fusion business in the United States and Japan, Alphatec's ability to expand and maintain a successful sales and marketing organization, continuation of favorable third party payor reimbursement for procedures performed using Alphatec's products, unanticipated expenses or liabilities or other adverse events affecting cash flow, Alphatec's expense improvement initiatives or Alphatec's ability to achieve profitability, uncertainty of additional funding, uncertainty of success in developing new products or products currently in Alphatec's pipeline, failure to successfully introduce and develop new products, including products related to license agreements, failure to achieve acceptance of Alphatec's products by the surgeon community, failure to obtain FDA clearance or approval for new products, Alphatec's ability to compete with other competing products and with emerging new technologies within and outside of spinal fusion, product liability exposure, patent infringement claims and claims related to Alphatec's intellectual property. Please refer to the risks detailed from time to time in Alphatec's SEC reports, including quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, reports on Form 8-K and annual reports on Form 10-K. Alphatec disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, unless required by law.
