Sean Kane New VP at SafeWire

Sean Kane has been named Vice President of Sales for SafeWire, a company that launched a guidewire in 2012 that is designed to mitigate forward migration. Kane will use his more than 17 years of sales, clinical and executive management experience in the medical device industry to lead the sales of SafeWire’s worldwide Minimally Invasive Spinal Solutions Sales Division. Additionally, he will act as manager of corporate marketing and strategic planning.

Kane previously held sales leadership positions at companies and distributorships including Johnson & Johnson, DJ Ortho (formerly SmithNephew DonJoy), DePuy OrthoTech and Depuy Synthes. Kane received a B.S. degree in Biology with a minor in Chemistry from Loyola University in New Orleans and completed his Master’s degree in Corporate Management from the A. B. Freeman School of Business, Tulane University.

“We believe that Sean’s substantial capabilities in sales and experience in distribution will make him an invaluable member of the executive team, ” Wyatt Geist, CEO of SafeWire in the March 20, 2013 news release. “We look forward to working with Sean to continue to increase our market reach and elevate the impact of our products.”

Kane told OTW, “SafeWire provides novel and effective solutions for several issues surgeons face today as minimally invasive spine surgery proliferates. The SafeWire System offers controlled, precise jamshidi needle and subsequent Y-Wire guidewire placement for percutaneous screw applications. Our patented bifurcated Y-wires greatly reduces the risk of guidewire migration during the procedure. As a result, many surgeons are seeing a significant reduction in fluoroscopy time and radiation to the patient and themselves. My role is first and foremost to raise awareness among spine surgeons that a potentially safer solution is available for placing percutaneous pedicle screws with our technology. My second initiative is to guide SafeWire towards responsible revenue growth as we build surgeon advocacy. We will achieve this initiative through our solid commitment to educating and training SafeWire users and representation. My final initiative and focus will be to analyze how we get our technologies to our surgeon customers and to seek out the most efficient and effective means available and ultimately what makes the most sense for us going forward.

SafeWire has launched Y-wire in 2012 and working on several other projects to be released over the next 6 to 18 months. In addition to mitigating forward migration during surgery, says the company, Y-wire also helps eliminate wire kinking issues and many surgeons have found it to greatly reduce the amount of radiation they receive during procedures. The product was nationally launched in April of 2012 and to date surgeons have utilized about 9, 000 wires. In the first year the product was released it was awarded the Best New Spine Technology Award from the publication Orthopedics This Week.