ApiFix® Ltd. announced today that it has elected Ted Bird as Chairman of the Board, effective immediately, replacing Zeev Bronfeld. ApiFix® is a commercial-stage company that has developed the CE-marked ApiFix® System – an innovative minimally invasive treatment alternative for Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis (AIS).
Mr. Bird is Chief Development Officer at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) Institute for Applied Neurosciences. Previously, he was President of Orthofix Spine Fixation. Earlier in his career, he was Vice President of U.S. Field Marketing and Strategic Development for DePuy Spine (Johnson & Johnson); and, Vice President of Global Medical Education, Emerging Technologies and Marketing at Medtronic Sofamor Danek.
“Given that ApiFix is now positioned to fast-forward its substantial commercial opportunity, Ted Bird’s experience and success in the spine industry should prove fruitful as we prepare to raise our next round of financing to aggressively launch The Apifix® System in Europe,” said Uri Arnin, CEO.
Scoliosis is a condition that causes the spine to curve sideways. There are several different types of scoliosis that affect children and adolescents. By far, the most common type is “idiopathic,” which means the exact cause is not known. Until now, the “gold standard” for correcting AIS in children and adolescents has been instrumentation and fusion of 10 to 12 vertebrae, an extensive and irreversible surgical procedure that permanently stiffens the spine of children and adolescents, who are otherwise healthy youngsters.
A clinical study of The ApiFix® System published this year in the peer-reviewed medical journal Scoliosis concluded that “there are many drawbacks to the current gold standard of AIS surgery, which are almost nonexistent with the use of ApiFix: considerable blood loss leading to blood transfusions, neurologic deficit including spinal cord lesions, late infections, pseudoarthrosis, limitation of spinal motion also affecting non-fused levels, back pain and disc degeneration in the non-fused spinal segments. Almost all of these complications can be avoided by the use of Apifix.”
