NEW YORK, July 10, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- Paradigm Spine, LLC announced that James R. Pastena has become the fifth member of its Board of Managers. Mr. Pastena has over 20 years of orthopedic and spine industry experience, including 12 years as President and CEO of EBI, L.P., a subsidiary of Biomet, Inc. During Mr. Pastena's tenure at EBI revenues grew from significantly less than $100 million in 1993 to approximately $500 million in 2005, with significant profit margins, through a combination of organic growth and acquisition.
"I am pleased to welcome Jim to our Board," said Marc R. Viscogliosi, Chairman and CEO of Paradigm Spine, LLC. "His experience and track record of success will be invaluable as we build Paradigm Spine into a leading player in the motion-preserving, non-fusion spine industry."
Mr. Pastena said, "I am impressed with Paradigm's product portfolio and the breadth of their surgeon relationships, as well as the way they have been able to redefine product development. I look forward to contributing and adding value."
The other members of Paradigm Spine's Board of Managers are John C. Moran, Arthur Steffee, MD, Marc R. Viscogliosi and Anthony G. Viscogliosi. Mr. Pastena joins a Board all of whose members have founded or led a major spine business.
Mr. Marc Viscogliosi said of the Board, "We have focused on building a Board of world-class operationally experienced founders, business and industry leaders. Each Board member brings specific expertise that I believe is unrivaled in terms of spine industry experience."
Mr. Viscogliosi continued, "Specifically, Mr. Moran and Dr. Steffee founded and built pioneering spine companies that are now recognized as the number 2 and 3 market leaders in the global spine industry. Mr. Pastena built one of the largest global orthopedic companies, which also is recognized as a top 5 market share leader in spine. Finally, my brother Anthony Viscogliosi has been involved in founding, building, and serving on the Boards of two of the leading spine arthroplasty technologies worldwide -- Spine Solutions' ProDisc and Spine Next's Wallis device.
Mr. Viscogliosi concluded, "As we enter the era of motion preservation in the spine, our world-class Board will provide the insights, relationships and experience to help us achieve the aggressive growth objectives we have set for ourselves."
Mr. Moran has served as a member of Paradigm Spine's Board of Managers since May 2005. He established and was first President of the Spinal Implant Division, Synthes Spine, and grew it from zero to approximately $70 million in sales over a six-year period. After serving in a variety of capacities for nineteen years, Mr. Moran left Synthes in 1997. Since then he has been a private investor in a number of companies, mostly in the medical device field. He is on the Board of Directors of Power Medical Interventions, Inc., Advanced Biomaterial Systems, Inc. (formerly Immedica, Inc.), Christini Technologies, Inc. and Formae, Inc. Mr. Moran also served on the Board of Directors of Spine Solutions, Inc. until its sale in 2003.
Dr. Steffee has served as a member of Paradigm Spine's Board of Managers since May 2005. Now retired, he was a practicing orthopedic surgeon for 30 years specializing in hand, total joint replacement and spine surgery. Dr. Steffee is the former Chairman of Orthopedic Surgery at St. Vincent's Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1983, Dr. Steffee founded AcroMed Corporation, a company that produces spinal implants and over 15 years grew the business from zero to approximately $100 million in sales. AcroMed Corporation was sold to DePuy, Inc. in 1998 for $325 million. AcroMed is recognized for the pioneering work in the development of the AcroFlex total lumbar artificial disc and Dr. Steffee is recognized as one of the first surgeons to utilize non-fusion technology, implanting the first lumbar and cervical total artificial disc replacements in the United States.
Mr. Marc Viscogliosi is a founder of Paradigm Spine, LLC and has been its Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Managers since August 2004. Prior to founding the Company, Mr. Viscogliosi was a co-founder and secretary of the Board of Directors of Spine Solutions, Inc. which was acquired by Synthes-Stratec in 2003. Prior to co-founding Spine Solutions, in 1999, Mr. Viscogliosi co-founded Viscogliosi Brothers, LLC, a leading merchant bank and venture capital firm focused on the musculoskeletal/orthopedics industry.
Mr. Anthony Viscogliosi is a founder of Paradigm Spine, LLC and has been its Secretary and Treasurer as a member of the Board of Managers since August 2004. He has twenty years of experience as a founder (Spine Solutions, Inc., Small Bone Innovations, LLC and Alliance Medical Corp.), venture capitalist, entrepreneur, CEO, board member (Spine Next, SA, Raymedica, Inc., Alliance Medical Corp., Hayes Medical, Inc. and Spire Corp.), leading Wall Street analyst, investment banker, author and lecturer. Mr. Viscogliosi was Chairman, President and CEO of Spine Solutions, Inc. at the time of its acquisition by Synthes-Stratec in 2003 for $350 million. Mr. Viscogliosi remains Vice Chairman and a director of Spine Solutions, Inc.
About Paradigm Spine, LLC
Paradigm Spine is a company focused on providing indication specific posterior non-fusion solutions for orthopedic spine surgeons and neurosurgeons focused on treating spinal conditions and diseases.
The company's founding philosophy is "Surgeon Centric, Indication Specific, Data Driven," and focuses on providing the best clinical outcomes for patients suffering from chronic back pain. The Company has 34 employees at its New York headquarters and office in Wurmlingen, Germany, including a 7-member direct sales force in Germany.
The company is concentrating on building a multi-product non-fusion portfolio. The company's signature product is the coflex(tm) posterior, non-fusion interspinous dynamically-functional implant. The company is planning to implement in the U.S. a multi-center IDE clinical trial of the coflex(tm) implant.
Paradigm Spine's other core platform is the Orthobiom(tm) technology, also in development for over a decade. The Orthobiom(tm) technology treats adolescent idiopathic scoliosis, a condition that causes severe curvature of the spine that can be corrected surgically through a spinal fusion procedure. The Orthobiom(tm) system is a non-fusion alternative designed to preserve the motion and growth of the child's spine. It is regarded as a revolutionary product with the potential to help the tens of thousands of children diagnosed annually with scoliosis.
Paradigm Spine, LLC was founded in 2004 by Viscogliosi Brothers, LLC. (VB). Established by Marc R. Viscogliosi, John J. Viscogliosi and Anthony G. Viscogliosi in New York City, in 1999, VB is the first venture capital/private equity and merchant banking firm dedicated to the $26.4 billion musculoskeletal/orthopedics device sector of the health care industry.
In total, the company has raised almost $30 million in three rounds, including the latest Series C funding of $14 million, announced on May 8th, 2006.
Today, VB is a leading independent firm, with a mission to create, build and finance companies founded on innovations developed by surgeons and uniquely focused on "life-changing" musculoskeletal/orthopedic technologies. VB has worldwide surgeon, industry and trade relationships and significant financial expertise in the musculoskeletal/orthopedic sector.
For more, visit: www.paradigmspine.com