Former NuVasive President Takes Helm at SeaSpine

Keith Valentine, former president of NuVasive, Inc. and one of principal reasons that firm is a $2 billion dollar spine industry powerhouse, has joined Integra LifeScience Corporation’s soon-to-be-spun off SeaSpine Holdings Corporation. Also joining SeaSpine is John Bostjancic, formerly Integra’s senior vice president of global supply chain management.

Landing Valentine is a major coup for SeaSpine.

For 13 years he was one of the three principals at NuVasive and most recently served as that company’s president and chief operating officer. During Valentine’s tenure at NuVasive the company grew from $3 million in sales and 76 employees to $762 million in sales and more than 1, 500 employees.

Before NuVasive, Valentine was vice president of marketing for OraTec Interventions, Inc. a medical device company later acquired by Smith and Nephew plc. He spent eight years in various roles at Medtronic Sofamor Danek, serving at various times as vice president of marketing for the rods division, group director for the BMP Biologics program and head of international sales and marketing.

Once SeaSpine completes its spin-off from Integra (anticipated for May 2015) and becomes an independent publically traded company, Keith Valentine will serve as its chief executive officer and John Bostjancic will be CFO. SeaSpine is located in Vista, California, and maintains a comprehensive portfolio of orthobiologics and spinal fusion hardware.

“With more than 20 years of experience in the orthopedic industry and an outstanding track record of success, Keith’s proven leadership skills will drive growth and innovation at SeaSpine, ” said Peter Arduini, Integra’s president and chief executive officer.

“I am thrilled to have the opportunity to lead SeaSpine following the spin-off from Integra, ” said Valentine. “SeaSpine has the ability to leverage its leading orthobiologics products and broad spinal fusion hardware portfolio, as well as invest in a pipeline of differentiated products to drive growth. I look forward to working with our customers, our strong management team, employees, and our future investors in the coming weeks and months.”

John Bostjancic, who has been acting CFO of SeaSpine since December 2014, was most recently senior vice president of global supply chain at Integra and prior to that senior vice president of financial planning and analysis. Previously, he worked at Merck & Co., Inc. and Pricewaterhouse Coopers.

The future Chairman of SeaSpine’s Board of Directors Kirt Stephenson said, “We are pleased to have a CEO with Keith’s background and track record, as well as a proven financial executive in John Bostjancic. We now have the leadership team in place to lead an independent SeaSpine forward.”