Finance, International Business, Manufacturing and Operations,
Product Development and Medical Education All Strengthened Under
Seasoned Leadership
-- New CFO With Over 20 Years of Industry Experience
-- Manufacturing & Product Development Led by New Additions
-- Key Executive Repositioned to France for Worldwide Focus
-- Upper and Lower Limb Spotlights Sharpened
NEW YORK, Sept. 7, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- Small Bone Innovations, Inc. (SBi), a single-source provider of products, technology and education for the small bone and joint sector of the orthopedic industry, has added three experienced industry leaders and promoted four current executives to its senior management team.
The newest members of the SBi family are:
Steve Ward
Chief Financial Officer
Steve Ward joins SBi as Chief Financial Officer and is responsible for the accounting and finance departments, as well as information technology, human resources, and customer service.
Before joining SBi, Mr. Ward was Vice President of Finance and Administration at International Technidyne Corp. for six years, overseeing accounting, IT, purchasing, customer service, and warehouse management. Mr. Ward was responsible for the company's Sarbanes Oxley audits and its 401(k) committee. From 1984 to 1999, Mr. Ward worked for Howmedica (orthopedic division of Pfizer) and later with Stryker Orthopedics where he was the Director of Accounting and Financial Systems, responsible for worldwide sales and financial consolidation, as well as all U.S. accounting functions. Prior to Howmedica, Mr. Ward worked at KPMG as a public accountant.
Mr. Ward holds a B.S. in Accounting and an MBA in Finance from Fairleigh Dickinson University.
Robert Churinetz
Vice President, Worldwide Manufacturing & Operations
Robert Churinetz joins SBi as Vice President, Worldwide Manufacturing & Operations, and is responsible for all manufacturing and operational activities at SBi's Morrisville, PA and Bourg-en-Bresse, France facilities, as well as its contract manufacturing partners.
Mr. Churinetz spent 11 years with Wright Medical Group, a worldwide designer, manufacturer, and marketer of small bone and large bone orthopedic implants, where he was Senior Vice President of Global Operations. He was responsible for manufacturing at all of Wright's facilities including the merger of both Orthomet in Minnesota and Cremascoli Ortho Group of France and Italy, into Wright's business.
Before Wright Medical, Mr. Churinetz was employed for 17 years by US Surgical Corp., where he was responsible for the Quality functions for the medical device operations in Connecticut, Puerto Rico, Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Germany.
Mr. Churinetz was part of the original management team, led by Herb Korthoff, that left US Surgical in 1993 to LBO the orthopedic business from Dow Corning Wright.
Most recently, Mr. Churinetz was President and CEO of RWC Enterprises, Inc. This company provided consultancy services to start up companies in the medical device sector. Mr. Churinetz received his B.S. in Microbiology from the University of Bridgeport.
Thomas B. Loring
Vice President, Worldwide Product Development
Thomas B. Loring joins SBi as Vice President, Worldwide Product Development, and is responsible for SBi's global product development efforts in the U.S., France, as well as SBI's outside co-development partners. He comes to SBi from Osteotech, Inc. where he was Senior Director of Product Development and Orthobiologics. In this role, Mr. Loring led all research and development efforts on bone/polymer composite biomaterials.
Prior to working at Osteotech, Mr. Loring was with Stryker Orthopaedics for eleven years where he held senior management positions in Product and Business Development. While in the Business Development role at Stryker, he developed a plan to create a dedicated business unit focused on the small bone market.
Mr. Loring received his B.S. in Management/Industrial Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and his MBA from The Amos Tuck School of Business Administration, at Dartmouth College.
Executive promotions at SBi:
Shawn T. Huxel
Vice President, Worldwide Technology Development &
Business Development
Shawn T. Huxel has been promoted from Vice President, Tissue Technology, to Vice President, Worldwide Technology Development & Business Development. He will continue with his current responsibilities of Technology and Business Development for SBi on a Global basis. In addition to this, Mr. Huxel has relocated to the SBi facility in Bourg-en-Bresse where he is responsible for setting up systems for operational communication between the U.S. and international operations.
Mr. Huxel joined the company in January 2005 following the acquisition of Xtremi-T, LLC where he was the founder and CEO. Xtremi-T was an emerging small bone orthopedic implant company focused on development and commercialization of proprietary bioabsorbable fixation products. Prior to Xtremi-T, he served as President & General Manager of Osseus, LLC, an orthopedic company focused on developing and commercializing orthopedic fixation systems based on flexible cables. Mr. Huxel also worked for Johnson & Johnson Advanced Biomaterials Group, a corporate spin-out of J&J's flagship biomaterials company, Ethicon, Inc., where he managed development programs across J&J's franchises.
Mr. Huxel has more than 17 years' experience in orthopedics and has written and received four approvals of 510k's for orthopedic devices. He holds 24 U.S. patents in medical device developments, with others pending. Mr. Huxel has a B.E. in Mechanical Engineering from Hofstra University, an M.S. in Management and an MBA from the New Jersey Institute of Technology.
Nicholas M. Pachuda, D.P.M.
Vice President, Continuing Medical Education
Dr. Nicholas M. Pachuda has been promoted from Director, Continuing Medical Education, to Vice President, Continuing Medical Education for SBi. He joined the Company in June 2005. Dr. Pachuda is responsible for developing, coordinating and executing global surgeon and education training for all SBi products and technologies.
Prior to joining SBi, Dr. Pachuda was a Small Joint Product Manager for Arthrex, Inc., a company dedicated to the development of innovative arthroscopy products for Sports Medicine. Before Arthrex, Dr. Pachuda owned and managed a private foot and ankle surgical practice that was among the top income grossing private practices in the U.S. Dr. Pachuda was also Board Certified in foot, rearfoot and ankle reconstructive surgery, as well as Podiatric Orthopedics.
Dr. Pachuda has more than 19 years' experience in small joint surgery and holds a B.S. in Biology from the University of Pittsburgh and a D.P.M. from Pennsylvania College of Podiatric Medicine. He completed his surgical training at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of NJ, followed by an Orthopedic Trauma Fellowship in Germany. Dr. Pachuda was also part of the AO (Arbeitsgemeinschaft fur Osteosynthesefragen) International teaching faculty, and has authored several publications and textbooks.
Scott Ludecker
Vice President, Sales - Lower Limb
Scott Ludecker has been promoted to Vice President of Sales - Lower Limb. He joined the Company in June of 2005 as Vice President of Eastern Area Sales. Mr. Ludecker is responsible for driving sales in the company's expanding Lower Limb product portfolio.
Before joining SBi, Mr. Ludecker held roles of increasing responsibility, including: regional sales manager, global business development manager, and Director of Trauma Sales - North East for Smith & Nephew, a global leader in high-technology medical devices within the Orthopedic, Endoscopy and Wound Management sectors. Prior to Smith & Nephew, Mr. Ludecker was Director of Sales Services for Exogen, Inc., an orthopedic device company acquired by Smith & Nephew, specializing in advanced bone healing systems. Prior to his position with Exogen, Mr. Ludecker was with DePuy ACE, the orthopedic trauma division of Johnson & Johnson.
Mr. Ludecker has more than 15 years' experience in orthopedics, holds a B.A. from Kenyon College, and has completed course work at the University of Michigan School of Business.
Jill Pflieger
Vice President, Worldwide Marketing - Upper Limb
Jill Pflieger has been promoted to Vice President, Worldwide Marketing - Upper Limb. She joined the Company in June of 2005 as Vice President, Western Area Sales. Ms. Pflieger is responsible for building and coordinating SBi's Upper Limb marketing strategy, as well as developing and coordinating surgeon relations.
Prior to joining SBi, Ms. Pflieger was Vice President, International Sales and Marketing for Kinetikos Medical, Inc. (KMI), an internationally recognized small bone and joint leader. An original employee of the company, Ms. Pflieger also held the position of Vice President, Marketing at KMI. Prior to KMI, Ms. Pflieger was a founding employee and Product Manager for Avanta Orthopaedics, a small bone and joint device company acquired by SBi.
Ms. Pflieger has more than 12 years' experience in small bone and joint orthopedics and holds a BFA from the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design. Ms. Pflieger is also the author of "Use of the Arthroereisis Implants for Treatment of Pediatric Pes Valgus" published in Podiatric Products, May/June 1997 issue.
SBi Chairman and CEO Anthony G. Viscogliosi, commenting on the new management team, said, "In my more than 20 years of work in the world of global orthopedics, I have not seen a more experienced, well-rounded, dedicated and talented management team focused on the small bone and joint market. Mr. Huxel and Dr. Pachuda have proven themselves invaluable to SBi. Mr. Ward has already made significant strides in cost savings, infrastructure building and accounting strategies, and Mr. Churinetz and Mr. Loring have hit the ground running, bringing decades worth of hands-on experience and know-how to our family. Finally, I am extremely proud of Mr. Ludecker and Ms. Pflieger for their hard work and dedication, demonstrated by their exemplary results and consistent glowing praise from surgeons and colleagues."
He added, "SBi is proud, not only to have created the small bone and joint market, but to continue to lead this market with surgeon-innovated technologies second to none. With our complete management team now in place, President and COO Mike Simpson and I have every confidence that SBi will continue to lead the world in bringing pain relieving, tissue-sparing, motion-preserving and function-restoring medical technologies to surgeons and their patients."
About Small Bone Innovations, Inc.
Small Bone Innovations, Inc. (SBi) was founded in 2004 by Viscogliosi Bros., LLC, (VB), the New York-based merchant banking firm that specializes in the musculoskeletal/orthopedic sector. VB created SBi as the first company to focus purely on small bone and joint science. By integrating established companies and professionals in the field, SBi today offers a broad, clinically proven portfolio of products and technologies to treat trauma and diseases in small bones and joints. Today, SBi has more than 140 employees at facilities in New York, NY, Morrisville, PA, Minneapolis, MN and Bourg-en-Bresse, France.
VB's acquisitions and technology licenses included: Avanta Orthopaedics, Inc. (hand/wrist/elbow arthroplasty and trauma products - USA); Envision, Inc. (implant manufacturing - USA); Actipore(tm) (porous metal technology - Canada); Artelon(r) (biologically active and biodegradable technology - Sweden); Xtremi-T, LLC (resorbable trauma technology - USA); and Fixano, S.A.S. (broad line of small bone and joint implants - France).
SBi completed a Series B financing, raising a record total of $42.2 million, announced in January 2006. Based on data provided by Venture Source, this was the largest venture capital investment ever recorded in the field of orthopedic devices. SBi was a 2006 recipient of Red Herring magazine's annual "Red Herring 100 North America" award, recognized as one of the nation's leading technology companies and the only orthopedic device company selected among an initial entry of more than one thousand firms. Additionally, SBi's Artelon CMC-I Spacer, developed for patients with thumb base osteoarthritis, was featured on the cover and highlighted within Medical Design Technology magazine's "Year of Innovation" issue as one of the most fascinating technologies influencing the medical device industry.
For more information on SBi, please visit: www.totalsmallbone.com.
About Viscogliosi Bros., LLC
Established by Marc R. Viscogliosi, John J. Viscogliosi and Anthony G. Viscogliosi in New York City in 1999, Viscogliosi Bros., LLC (VB) was the first venture capital/private equity and merchant banking firm dedicated to the musculoskeletal/orthopedics sector of the health care industry.
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.
As principals of VB, the Viscogliosi brothers have a combined total of nearly half a century of experience analyzing and investing in the musculoskeletal/orthopedics sector, directing literally billions of dollars through the orthopedics industry. They have pioneered innovative financial, strategic and management initiatives for nearly 150 companies in the sector, from start-up, seed and development stage all the way to exit, while helping thousands of people lead better lives through the orthopedic and spinal products marketed and sold by the companies they have assisted in developing and financing.
For more information about VB, please visit: www.vbllc.com.
Forward-looking statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements as a result of risks and uncertainties impacting the Company's business including increased competition; the ability of the Company to expand its operations and to attract and retain qualified professionals; technological obsolescence; general economic conditions; and other risks.