ALACHUA, Fla., Dec. 28, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via PRWEB - AxoGen, Inc. (NASDAQ:AXGN), a leader in developing and marketing innovative surgical solutions for peripheral nerve injuries, announced that Matthew Jayroe, one of the thousands of patients who have had injured nerves repaired with AxoGen's Avance® Nerve Graft, will be honored as a recipient of donated nerve tissue.
Matthew will ride aboard the 2016 Donate Life Rose Parade Float in Pasadena, California on New Year's Day. Matthew, a native of Dothan, Alabama, is one of 30 riders on the float, all of whom have received the gift of donated tissue, organs or eyes thanks to the generosity of deceased donors and their families.
In July of 2014, Matthew, an active teenager with a love of sports and the outdoors, suffered an injury while helping his mother prepare dinner. In leaping out of the way of a dropped crystal butter dish, Matthew accidently landed on a large shard of glass, slicing the bottom of his foot, including lacerating two major nerves and the plantar tendons. This glass trauma, a common household injury, resulted in a loss of nerve function from the front of his heel through his first three toes. Upon learning the extent of his injury, Matthew's parents were concerned that he would grow up impaired and unable to perform in all the activities he enjoyed. They began searching for a repair option and found Dr. A. Lee Dellon of The Dellon Institutes for Peripheral Nerve Surgery®. In August 2014, Matthew underwent surgery where Dr. Dellon repaired the damaged nerve tissue with Avance ® Nerve Graft, allowing the nerves to regenerate and restore his sensation. Matthew is now back to being an active teenager, running, climbing trees and playing sports again.
"We are honored that Matthew will have the opportunity to represent nerve tissue recipients on the Donate Life Rose Parade Float," said Matthew's mother, Teresa Jayroe. "The injury to Matthew's foot may be a common household injury but when the physicians in our area were unable to repair his nerve injury, I knew right away it could impact the rest of his life. We are grateful for Dr. Dellon of The Dellon Institutes for Peripheral Nerve Surgery® and Avance® Nerve Graft for giving Matthew a second chance to be an active teenager. Nerve injuries like Matthew's can happen at any time and it's critical to quickly find a doctor who can recommend treatment options that restore functionality so you can get back to doing what you enjoy the most."
"There are over 900,000 nerve injuries in the US annually and the growing awareness of our product portfolio, including Avance ®Nerve Graft, is benefitting thousands of patients with an off-the-shelf option for patients suffering from peripheral nerve injury," commented Karen Zaderej, President and Chief Executive Officer of AxoGen, Inc. "Matthew's mother is a great champion for her kids and due to her quick response and persistence, Matthew is able to return to his active lifestyle."
About the Donate Life Rose Parade Float
The Donate Life Float began on New Year's Day 2004, prompted by lung recipient Gary Foxen (Orange, CA), as a way to show gratitude to the donors who made life-saving transplants like his possible, and to inspire others to become organ, eye, and tissue donors. Today 40 million Rose Parade viewers see the float from the stands in Pasadena, CA and on TV across the world. All Donate Life float sponsors encourage parade viewers to join the nation's more than 117 million registered donors so that everyone whose life depends on a transplant may receive one. Registrations can be made through state registries, links to which can be found at http://www.DonateLifeAmerica.org. Further information about the Donate Life float, decorating, and facts about donation and transplantation can be found at http://www.donatelifefloat.org.
About the Rose Parade
The 127th Rose Parade presented by Honda, themed "Find Your Adventure," will take place Friday, January 1, 2016, at 8 am PST. The Pasadena Tournament of Roses is a volunteer organization that annually hosts the Rose Parade®, the Rose Bowl Game® and a variety of associated events. For additional information, please visit http://www.TournamentOfRoses.com.
About AxoGen, Inc.
AxoGen (NASDAQ:AXGN) is a leading medical technology company dedicated to peripheral nerve repair. AxoGen's portfolio of regenerative medicine products is available in the United States, Canada and several other countries and includes Avance® Nerve Graft, an off-the-shelf processed human nerve allograft for bridging severed nerves without the comorbidities associated with a second surgical site, AxoGuard® Nerve Connector, a porcine submucosa extracellular matrix ("ECM") coaptation aid for tensionless repair of severed nerves, and AxoGuard® Nerve Protector, a porcine submucosa ECM product used to wrap and protect injured peripheral nerves and reinforce the nerve reconstruction while preventing soft tissue attachments.
Avance® Nerve Graft is processed in the United States by AxoGen. AxoGuard® Nerve Connector and AxoGuard® Nerve Protector are manufactured in the United States by Cook Biotech Incorporated, and are distributed worldwide exclusively by AxoGen. AxoGen maintains its corporate offices in Alachua, Florida and is the parent of its wholly owned operating subsidiary, AxoGen Corporation.
Cautionary Statements Concerning Forward-Looking Statements
This Press Release contains "forward-looking" statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on management's current expectations or predictions of future conditions, events or results based on various assumptions and management's estimates of trends and economic factors in the markets in which we are active, as well as our business plans. Words such as "expects", "anticipates", "intends", "plans", "believes", "seeks", "estimates", "projects", "forecasts", "continue", "may", "should", "will" variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements may include, without limitation, statements regarding our growth, our 2015 guidance, product development, product potential, financial performance, sales growth, product adoption, market awareness of our products, data validation, our visibility at and sponsorship of conferences and educational events. The forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, which may cause results to differ materially from those set forth in the statements. Forward-looking statements in this release should be evaluated together with the many uncertainties that affect AxoGen's business and its market, particularly those discussed in the risk factors and cautionary statements in AxoGen's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, and actual results may differ materially from those projected. The forward-looking statements are representative only as of the date they are made, and, except as required by law, AxoGen assumes no responsibility to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Source: AxoGen, Inc.
Contact:
AxoGen, Inc.
Gregory Freitag, Chief Financial Officer & General Counsel
386.462.6856
InvestorRelations(at)AxoGenInc(dot)com
EVC Group
Michael Polyviou/Doug Sherk – Investor Relations
212.850.6020/646-445-4800
mpolyviou(at)evcgroup(dot)com; dsherk(at)evcgroup(dot)com
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