VERTEBRON Inc. Announces A Long-Term Strategic Alliance With The Intermountain Tissue Center For Domestic Distribution Of Struct
October 27 2003 - 11:07AM
PR Newswire (US)
VERTEBRON Inc. Announces A Long-Term Strategic Alliance With The
Intermountain Tissue Center For Domestic Distribution Of Structural
Allograft And Demineralized Bone Matrix Products STRATFORD, Conn.,
Oct. 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- VERTEBRON Inc. (VERTEBRON) has
entered into a strategic alliance with Intermountain Tissue Center
(ITC) for product development, marketing and distribution of
structural bone grafts in addition to demineralized bone matrices
within North America. ITC, located in Salt Lake City, UT, is the
largest bone and tissue provider within the Mountain Region and is
accredited by the American Association of Tissue Banks (AATB). ITC
will work with VERTEBRON to develop a series of allografts and
demineralized bone products which will complement VERTEBRON's broad
portfolio of spinal implants within North America. VERTEBRON,
located in Stratford, CT, has developed revolutionary spinal
implant technologies, including artificial discs, cervical plates
and pedicle screw systems to participate in both the over $2
billion fusion market and rapidly expanding motion preservation
market, which is expected to exceed $3 billion by 2010. Allograft
bone, which is over a $500 million market, remains the structural
material of choice because of its biologic and integration
properties with host bone. Partnering with AATB accredited tissue
banks that maintain extremely high quality standards is crucial to
providing patients with the best quality tissue available. Hosam
Afifi, President and CEO of VERTEBRON stated, "VERTEBRON is proud
to be strategically aligned with the Intermountain Tissue Center.
ITC's support and broad portfolio of tissue forms complements our
ability to better serve North American spine surgeons with fusion
procedures, providing both spinal implants and allograft adjuncts.
In addition to our existing relationship with Musculoskeletal
Transplant Foundation, for distribution of specified bone grafts
and synthetic constructs within certain international markets, we
are especially delighted to be also partnering with ITC for
distribution within North America. This alliance further adds to
VERTEBRON's balanced approach in offering state of the art options
addressing both fusion and motion preservation to meet the
procedural demands of surgeons both domestically and
internationally." Jan Pierce, Executive Director and COO of
Intermountain Tissue Center, added, "ITC believes tremendous
synergies exist coupling structural allografts and demineralized
bone products with VERTEBRON's product portfolio consisting of
fusion and motion preservation products. Opportunity for growth
within North America (with both allograft and demineralized
products) can be realized through our strategic relationship with
VERTEBRON and their premier network of domestic distributors. In
addition to innovative allograft designs, interesting access and
delivery concepts may also proactively resolve some existing
surgical concerns." VERTEBRON is a privately held medical device
company that has developed spinal implant technologies, including
artificial discs (motion preservation), cervical plates, pedicle
screw and interbody (fusion) systems through the vertical
integration of spinal, orthopaedic and total joint technologies.
VERTEBRON's advanced motion preservation devices, fusion
technologies and breakthrough spinal implant designs will be
strategically marketed to establish the company as a leading
provider of innovative next-generation solutions. The comprehensive
product offering provides surgeons with simplified surgical
techniques, enhanced intra-operative flexibility and reliable
instrumentation. For more information, please visit
http://www.vertebron.com/. The Intermountain Tissue Center is a
non-profit service organization dedicated to providing the highest
standards in the procurement and processing of tissues and cells
while enhancing lives through cellular therapies, tissue
transplantation, innovation and research. ITC's standards require
all tissues to be aseptically recovered and processed, using
sterile standard operating procedures, which are then
bacteriologically tested and confirmed to be free of pathogenic
microorganisms prior to acceptance. ITC's quality and safety
standards consistently meet or exceed the requirements of the
American Association of Tissue Banks (AATB) and the current
regulations published by the FDA. For more information, please
visit http://www.itcutah.org/. This release may contain
forward-looking statements including, but not limited to,
projections of future performance and regulatory approvals, subject
to risks and uncertainties. These statements are subject to change
based on known risks detailed from time to time in VERTEBRON's
business plan and offering documents and other known and unknown
risks and various other factors, which could cause the actual
results or performance to differ materially from the statements
made herein. Contact: Anan Natarajan, VERTEBRON Inc.,
+1-203-380-9340 DATASOURCE: VERTEBRON Inc. CONTACT: Anan Natarajan,
VERTEBRON Inc., +1-203-380-9340 Web site: http://www.vertebron.com/
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