SpineGuard has announced that it has signed a national stocking distribution agreement with OrthoPediatrics for the exclusive commercialization of its PediGuard probes in pediatric institutions in the U.S. As indicated in the March 17, 2016 news release, “OrthoPediatrics is the only medical device company focused exclusively on providing a comprehensive product offering to the pediatric orthopedic market in order to improve the lives of children with various orthopedic pathologies.”
SpineGuard, Orthopediatrics Team Up
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“We are delighted to partner with OrthoPediatrics for the distribution of our smart drilling devices. I have been very impressed with the quality of their management team and their commitment to the cause of improving the lives of children with orthopedic conditions, ” said Pierre Jérôme, CEO and co-founder of SpineGuard. “This partnership will enhance our exposure into U.S. pediatric institutions where we believe our Dynamic Surgical Guidance technology can bring great clinical value.”
President and CEO of OrthoPediatrics Mark Throdahl said, “OrthoPediatrics’ goal is to advance the field of pediatric orthopedics with the broadest and most innovative product line in our industry. PediGuard probes are a valuable addition to our complex spine offering, addressing the safety needs of both patients and surgeons. We are pleased to partner with SpineGuard on the application of this innovative technology to pediatric orthopedic surgery.”
Asked what makes OrthoPediatrics’ management team so excellent, Pierre Jérôme told OTW, “They have a clear vision of what they want to accomplish and share a passion for supporting the treatment of kids with values of honesty, transparency and respect. They are focused on the pediatric surgeons, which gives them a very strong specific competitive advantage because: 1) they tend to provide all solutions needed for orthopedic surgical treatments of children, and 2) they are able to answer positively to the needs of the surgeons in terms of specific devices that would usually not be getting the attention of the Majors due to modest market potential.”
As for how the collaboration will move forward, Jérôme noted, “SpineGuard will receive its first stocking order from OrthoPediatrics. Training of the OrthoPediatrics sales force will commence, starting with a reduced team in order to establish success before expanding to the entire network of OrthoPediatrics. And, of course, there will be collaborative field actions in sales, marketing and surgeon education.”
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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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