A $12 million infusion of new funding to Providence Medical Technology, Inc. means that the company can ramp up work on its tissue-sparing cervical spine technology. The funds are to be utilized to further commercialize and expand the company’s portfolio of DTRAX cervical fusion products designed to help patients suffering from cervical degenerative disc disease.
$12 Million and a New VP for Providence Medical Technology!
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“We are expanding our portfolio of cervical fusion products to address the majority of cervical pathologies requiring surgery, ” said Providence Chief Executive Officer Jeff Smith, in the August 26, 2015 news release. “Our focus is on differentiated, tissue-sparing devices and instruments that are designed to improve clinical outcomes, minimize complications, increase procedural efficiency, and reduce recovery times. With our new financing, we can accelerate our research and development activities to broaden our innovative product portfolio and further scale our global sales and marketing capabilities.”
In other news from Providence, Jason Hoffman has been named as the vice president of Global Sales. According to the news release, “Hoffman is an experienced commercial leader with 20 years of sales and marketing experience in the medical device and life sciences industries. Most recently, Hoffman was vice president of U.S. Sales, Therapeutic Support Systems for ArjoHuntleigh and Kinetic Concepts for four years. Prior to that, he spent 13 years at Johnson & Johnson in senior sales and marketing leadership roles.”
“Jason is a seasoned sales leader who has successfully driven impressive top-line growth for major medical device and life sciences companies, ” added Smith. “He brings outstanding strategic and tactical sales leadership skills to further enable the rapid growth and surgeon adoption of our DTRAX cervical fusion portfolio.”
Regarding the new funding, Jeff Smith told OTW, “Providence is planning a prospective, multi-center clinical study in the United States evaluating the safety and efficacy of DTRAX cervical fusion products for the treatment of cervical degenerative disc disease. Additionally, the company is planning to conduct a series of biomechanical studies to further study the impact of its implants on the spine.”
The new financing comes from existing investors Stanmore Medical Investments, Aphelion Capital and other existing private investors, and the establishment of a new debt facility with Silicon Valley Bank.
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This is a fascinating development. In my practice we've seen similar outcomes with the revised protocol. The key differentiator seems to be patient selection criteria. Has anyone else noticed the correlation with BMI thresholds?
Great point. I'd push back slightly on the conclusion, the sample size in the cited study is too small to draw population-level inferences. That said, the directional signal is compelling and worth a larger RCT.
We implemented a similar approach last year. Early results are promising but we're still gathering 12-month follow-up data. Happy to share our protocol if anyone is interested.
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