KICVentures Sees Recent $1B Acquisition in Spine as an Industry Shift Towards Big Companies Valuing Disc Replacement Technology.

BOSTON, MA (PRWEB) JUNE 16, 2016

On June 7th, 2016, Reuters reported on Zimmer BioMet’s recent acquisition of total disc replacement company, LDR. In light of this 1 billion dollar purchase, KICVentures observes a quickly growing interest in motion preservation technologies. According to MedGadget, the global cervical total disc replacement market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 23.1 percent, reaching $1.75 billion by the year 2021.

KICVentures concludes that a growing elderly population and increased cervical disc replacement surgeries will drive greater demand for advanced CTDR devices for surgery. This will result in rapid market growth.

“This is a pivotal moment towards motion-preservation technology in spine. This recent acquisition of LDR by Zimmer Biomet indicates that it would be prudent for a medical device company lacking disc replacement technology to make a similar acquisition. It is an opportune time for first-generation TDR companies to exit from a space quickly evolving away from mobile core devices and toward next generation viscoelastic discs,” says Jake Lubinski, President of Axiomed LLC.

AxioMed, a KICVentures company, is poised to capitalize on this growing demand with the Freedom® Disc, a single-piece technology made of a proprietary viscoelastic polymer that is permanently bonded between two titanium end-plates. Clinical results show that AxioMed discs display superior strength, durability and enhanced range of motion by simulating the stability and flexibility of a healthy human disc. The Freedom® Disc has been implanted in over 800 patients globally and has performed well on the European market.

The proprietary viscoelastic material between the two end-plates of the Freedom® Disc is the only proven material to perform as a viable disc replacement in the spine. AxioMed has an exclusive license for its use in lumbar and cervical total disc replacements as well as any other applications.

There are always skeptics when it comes to disruptive new technologies and disc replacements have plenty of skeptics who argue against treating back pain. In response, Harvard-trained spine surgeon and CEO of Axiomed, Dr. Kingsley R. Chin states “Unlike current discs on the market that are miniaturized versions of a total knee replacement ball and socket joints, the AxioMed lumbar and cervical discs are viscoelastic compressible, single-piece devices with no moving parts and so it will be easy to implant and will closely mimic a normal disc. There is never absolute certainty about the cause of back pain in a patient. So how do you advocate for one treatment over another? We are focused on restoring normal spine kinematics by replacing the diseased spine segment in patients who have spine pain instead of fusions. In addition to maintaining motion, we seek to restore normal alignment of the spine, in particular the disc and fact joints now that we have the Axiomed cervical and lumbar total disc replacement technologies to do so effectively. The studies have demonstrated clinical effectiveness in human trials so there is plenty of optimism.”

The Freedom Disc has received global attention as well. Dr. Robert Pflugmacher, Head of Spine Orthopedics, University Hospital of Bonn, Germany, calls the Freedom Disc the “best disc on the market.”

Lumbar disc IDE trials are coming to an end in a few months and AxioMed plans to submit the PMA to the FDA in 2016 and hopes to release the lumbar disc in the USA in 2017. The disc is available outside the USA and is exclusively distributed by SpineFrontier, Inc. Visit SpineFrontier at http://www.spinefrontier.com.

About AxioMed
Founded in 2001, AxioMed began its journey of exhaustively proving the Freedom Disc through research, development and testing. In 2014, KICVentures recognized the disc’s enormous potential and acquired the company into their healthcare portfolio. AxioMed owns an exclusive viscoelastic material license on its proprietary Freedom Disc technology. Visit AxioMed at http://www.axiomed.com.

About KICVentures
KICVentures manages several portfolio companies, investing in disruptive technology in the health-tech sector. KICVentures acquires, creates, and nurtures companies and their technologies to their fullest potential. Visit KICVentures at http://www.KICVentures.com.