Osteotech, Inc. (Nasdaq: OSTE), a leader in the emerging field of biologic products for regenerative healing, announced today that MagniFuse PC (Posterior Cervical) Bone Graft, a new tissue-based product built upon the Company's proprietary MagniFuse bone graft technology platform, has been used for the first time in a spinal surgery in the United States.
Utilizing MagniFuse PC, Dr. Orin Atlas, an orthopedic spine surgeon and chief of spine surgery at Virtua-Burlington Medical Center in Mt. Holly, New Jersey, performed a posterior cervical fusion. Posterior cervical fusion is a surgical procedure to stop motion between two or more vertebrae that may be causing neck pain or damage to the nerves that extend into the upper extremities. "In using MagniFuse for the first time, I found the product to be unique from a biologic perspective and easy to work with from a surgical placement perspective," commented Dr. Atlas. "MagniFuse required minimal hydration and the self-contained delivery system made it easily conformable to the defect once implanted at the surgical site. This graft has a completely unique delivery system and is unlike any other product on the market."
"Over the past 12 months we have worked diligently to prepare our MagniFuse product family for commercialization," said Sam Owusu-Akyaw, Osteotech's President and Chief Executive Officer. "As we have continued to develop MagniFuse, we have incorporated feedback from surgeons that has allowed us to hone the procedure-specific characteristics and clinical utility of the initial new products we are bringing to the spine market. We believe our MagniFuse products will solve many of the implantation challenges that are inherent to both particle- and viscous-based bone graft products such as existing growth factor, stem cell and premium synthetic products. Additionally, based upon its ease-of-use, unique delivery and containment characteristics, MagniFuse products may enable surgeons to advance their grafting techniques."
MagniFuse, which has received clearance from the United States Food and Drug Administration, is Osteotech's new, patented bone graft technology platform that supports a family of products utilized when injury or disease creates a need for bone fusion or new bone growth. The MagniFuse technology platform has a number of distinguishing characteristics: