CARLSBAD, Calif., July 20, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Alphatec Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq:ATEC), a leading medical device company focused on the design, development, manufacturing and marketing of products for the surgical treatment of spine disorders, announced today that Mortimer Berkowitz III was appointed to serve as Alphatec's Chairman of the Board of Directors. Mr. Berkowitz has served as a member of Alphatec's Board of Directors since July 2005. John H. Foster, the previous Chairman of the Board of Directors, will remain a member of Alphatec's Board of Directors.
"I am very pleased that Mr. Berkowitz has agreed to serve as Alphatec's Chairman of the Board of Directors and we look forward to continuing to work with him," said Dirk Kuyper, Alphatec's President and Chief Executive Officer. "Mr. Berkowitz and Mr. Foster both share our vision of building Alphatec into the leading medical device company focused on providing innovative solutions targeted at serving the needs of the spinal disorder marketplace."
Mortimer Berkowitz III is an experienced and successful investment professional with over 17 years of private equity investing experience, including investments in the healthcare industry. Mr. Berkowitz has served as a director of Alphatec since July 2005. Mr. Berkowitz is currently President, a member of the Board of Managers and a Managing Director of HealthpointCapital, LLC, a private equity firm focused on the orthopedic and dental industries. Prior to joining HealthpointCapital, LLC, Mr. Berkowitz was Managing Director and co-founder of BPI Capital Partners, LLC, a private equity firm founded in 1990. Mr. Berkowitz is a director of Scient'x S.A., a spinal solutions medical device company, a director of DTI Holdings, Inc., a dental laboratory business, and a member of the Leadership Council of the Harvard School of Public Health. Mr. Berkowitz received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard College and an MBA from the Columbia Graduate School of Business.
About Alphatec
Alphatec (Nasdaq:ATEC) designs, develops, in-licenses, manufactures and markets innovative products for the surgical treatment of spine disorders. The company's broad product portfolio and pipeline includes a variety of spinal implant products and systems focused on solutions addressing the cervical, thoracolumbar, intervertibral, minimally invasive, allograft, and motion preservation markets. The company's "surgeons' culture" emphasizes collaboration with spinal surgeons to conceptualize, design and co-develop a broad range of products. State-of-the-art in-house manufacturing capabilities provide a unique competitive advantage, enabling the company to rapidly deliver customized solutions to meet surgeons' and patients' critical needs. Alphatec has 18 issued U.S. patents, one issued foreign patent and 24 pending patent applications, including sixteen pending U.S. applications, four pending international applications and four pending foreign national applications. Alphatec's principal product offerings are primarily focused on the global spine fusion market, which is estimated to approach $5.9 billion in 2007. In addition to its U.S. operations, the company also markets a range of spine and orthopedic products in Japan through its subsidiary, Alphatec Pacific, Inc. For more information, please visit www.alphatecspine.com.
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Forward Looking Statements
This press release may contain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that involve risks and uncertainty. Such statements are based on management's current expectations and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: Alphatec's ability to successfully design, develop, manufacture and market products for the surgical treatment of spine disorders and Alphatec's expectations regarding the continued growth of the U.S. and global spine market. Alphatec cautions investors that there can be no assurance that actual results or business conditions will not differ materially from those projected or suggested in such forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to, the following: Alphatec's ability to maintain its level of previously reported sales growth, Alphatec's ability to successfully leverage upon the experience of its Scientific Advisory Board, Alphatec's ability to develop and expand its spine fusion business in the United States and Japan, Alphatec's ability to expand and maintain a successful sales and marketing organization, continuation of favorable third party payor reimbursement for procedures performed using Alphatec's products, unanticipated expenses or liabilities or other adverse events affecting cash flow or Alphatec's ability to achieve profitability, uncertainty of additional funding, uncertainty of success in developing new products or products currently in Alphatec's pipeline, failure to successfully introduce and develop new products, including products related to license agreements, failure to achieve acceptance of Alphatec's products by the surgeon community, failure to obtain FDA clearance or approval for new products, Alphatec's ability to compete with other competing products and with emerging new technologies within and outside of spinal fusion, product liability exposure, patent infringement claims and claims related to Alphatec's intellectual property. Please refer to the risks detailed from time to time in Alphatec's SEC reports, including quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, reports on Form 8-K and annual reports on Form 10-K. Alphatec disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, unless required by law.