CARLSBAD, Calif., March 13, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Alphatec Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq:ATEC), a medical technology company focused on the design, development, manufacturing and marketing of products for the surgical treatment of spinal disorders, announced that the company's wholly owned subsidiary, Alphatec Spine, Inc. ("Alphatec Spine"), and Stout Medical Group LP. ("Stout") entered into a License Agreement that provides Alphatec Spine with a worldwide license to develop and commercialize Stout's expandable interbody/vertebral body replacement technology. The expandable interbody/vertebral body replacement technology utilizes a unique geometric design configuration that can be expanded once the device is placed into the disc space and is designed to be used in percutaneous, mini-open and open delivery procedures. Stout, which was formed in early 2006, specializes in spinal implants and technologies for the orthopedics industry.
"This expandable interbody/vertebral body replacement technology fits perfectly in Alphatec Spine's broad strategic product platform, which is targeted at providing solutions for the aging spine," said Dirk Kuyper, Alphatec Spine's President and Chief Executive Officer. "It is expected that the expandable interbody/vertebral body replacement will provide for improved surface area coverage in the disc space, and as a result will provide improved construct stability and mitigate potential graft subsidence. The aging spine has unique characteristics and this technology is intended to provide superior efficacy in dealing with patients who suffer from degenerative disc disease by incorporating minimally invasive access techniques while still being adaptable for all biomaterials."
The financial terms of the License Agreement include: (1) an up-front license fee payment to be made by Alphatec Spine to Stout; (2) regulatory and sales milestone payments that could begin to be achieved and paid by Alphatec Spine to Stout in 2008; and (3) a royalty payment based on net sales of licensed products, with minimum annual royalties beginning in 2009.
The License Agreement expires in 2028. Alphatec Spine has the right to sublicense the technology to third parties as well as terminate the License Agreement for any reason upon 90 days prior written notice to Stout. Each party has the right to terminate the License Agreement for a material uncured breach by the other party.
About Alphatec
Alphatec Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq:ATEC) designs, develops, manufactures and markets products for the surgical treatment of spine disorders. Alphatec's broad product portfolio and pipeline includes a variety of spinal implant products and systems focused on solutions addressing the cervical, thoracolumbar, intervertebral, minimally invasive, motion preservation, vertebral compression fractures and allograft markets. Alphatec'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 Alphatec to rapidly deliver customized solutions to meet surgeons' and patients' critical needs. Alphatec has 23 issued U.S. patents, six issued foreign patents and 30 pending patent applications, including 10 pending U.S. applications, six pending international applications and 15 pending foreign national applications. Alphatec's principal product offerings are primarily focused on the global spine implant and biologics market, which is estimated to be more than $7.0 billion in 2007. In addition to its U.S. operations, Alphatec also markets a range of spine and orthopedic products in Asia 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 expected revenues in 2008, Alphatec's ability to accelerate new product momentum, bring to market differentiated products and commercialize its product pipeline. 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 control its costs, 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, Asia and Europe, Alphatec's ability to enter the high-growth areas of spine disorders, including the market for disorders that are prevalent in aging patients, Alphatec's ability to meet fiscal year 2008 revenue guidance in either the United States, Asia or Europe, 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 successfully control its costs or achieve profitability, uncertainty of additional funding, uncertainty of success in developing new products or products currently in Alphatec's pipeline, including without limitation the products described in this press release and those products that are intended to treat disorders prevalent in aging patients, uncertainty of success in bringing to market differentiated products that meet the evolving needs of the contemporary spine surgeon, including without limitation an expandable interbody/vertebral replacement device, demanding patients, and cost conscience healthcare providers, failure to successfully introduce, develop and commercialize new products, 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.