Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1344229
30 DEVICES & IMPLANTS DePuy Synthes inks distribution deal for expandable cages in the US By Alan Condon D ePuy Synthes, part of Johnson & Johnson Medical Device Companies, has partnered with Expanding Innovations to distribute the X-Pac expandable cage in the U.S. The X-Pac cage supplements DePuy's portfolio of lumbar degen- erative and minimally invasive spine products. The device is designed to provide controlled expansion of height and lordosis to allow for intraoperative adjustment depending on the patient's anatomy. A lock ramp-feature built into the endplates offers a large graft space inside the cage for post-graft packing. The company said these features help surgeons tailor treatment options for patients undergoing spinal fusion. n NuVasive adds member to its board of directors By Laura Dyrda N uVasive, a spine technology company, added Siddhartha Kadia, PhD, to its board of directors effective Feb. 1. Dr. Kadia was president and CEO of EAG Labora- tories, a global scientific services company, and president of the life sciences division at Life Tech- nologies, a biotech company that was acquired by Thermo Fisher Scientific in 2014. In his new role on NuVasive's board, Dr. Kadia will help drive innovation and support the company's goal of transforming surgery. In January, a study published in The Spine Journal validated its sin- gle-position spine surgery with the X360 procedur- al approach as improving efficiency while reducing complications and hospital length of stay. n Alphatec U.S. revenue up 38% in Q4; 'best is yet to come,' CEO says By Alan Condon S pine device company Alphatec expects to see fourth-quarter U.S. revenue rise between 38 percent and 39 percent year over year, according to a preliminary unaudited report released Jan. 12. Five details: 1. Full-year 2020 U.S. revenue is expected to see year-over-year growth of about 30 percent. 2. New product sales represented about 75 percent of estimated U.S. revenue for the fourth quarter. 3. Growth was driven by the "rapid adoption" of Alphatec's recently launched technologies and "strong pull-through from the SafeOp Neural InformatiX System," the company said in a news release. 4. Alphatec Chairman and CEO Pat Miles said he was encour- aged by the strong financial performance in 2020. "While we ex- pect pandemic-related volume variability to persist into 2021, we will continue to drive adoption of novel procedures like [prone transpoas] while we work to close the EOS [imaging] transaction," he said. "[Alphatec's] best is yet to come." 5. In December, the company entered into a renewed agreement to acquire EOS imaging in a $116.9 million all-cash transaction. The acqui- sition will strengthen Alphatec's position in the spinal imaging sector. n Alphatec plans hiring spree after moving into new headquarters By Alan Condon S pine device company Alphatec has relocat- ed to a 120,000-square-foot headquarters in Carlsbad, Calif. The facility includes a machining center, a biome- chanical lab and a seven-station cadaveric lab to increase engagement between spine surgeons and sales professionals working on new products and procedures. "The new Atec headquarters is designed around a singular message: our business is in the oper- ating room," Pat Miles, chairman and CEO, said in a Feb. 1 news release. "The completion of this incredible new facility marks an important mile- stone for the future growth of our business." Alphatec has about 300 staff, which has almost doubled since 2017. The company said it plans to add several more positions through 2021 and beyond. n