Zimmer launches UniWallis Posterior Dynamic Stabilization System in Europe and Asia Pacific

Zimmer Holdings, Inc. (NYSE and SIX: ZMH), a global leader in musculoskeletal care, today announced the launch of the next generation of its Wallis® Posterior Dynamic Stabilization System, the UniWallis™ System, in Europe and Asia Pacific.  Since the debut of the Wallis System in 2000, feedback collected from surgeons revealed the need for a device that maintains all of the clinical advantages of the Wallis System, provides improved ease of use and offers a more anatomy-sparing procedure.

The principles of the UniWallis and Wallis implants are the same: the spacer controls movements in extension and the band controls movements in flexion.  In addition to the advantages it shares with the Wallis implant, the UniWallis implant offers surgeons the ability to perform surgery from a unilateral approach, preserving the supraspinous ligament.

"The launch of the new UniWallis System offers surgeons a redesigned and reinforced approach to increasing patient mobility," said Steve Healy, President of Zimmer Spine.  "The broad array of implant sizes available with the UniWallis System allows us to improve the lives of an even wider range of patients."

Interspinous dynamic stabilization first appeared in 1987, establishing the need for posterior dynamic stabilization to treat lower back pain due to degenerative instability.  Today, the UniWallis implant combines all of the advantages of the original Wallis device but permits even more preservation and adaptability to the patient's anatomy.  The UniWallis System has not received clearance from the Food and Drug Administration and is not available for sale in the United States.