Exactech Breaks Ground in Foot and Ankle Market with Successful First Surgery

GAINESVILLE, Fla.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Exactech, Inc. (Nasdaq: EXAC), a developer and producer of bone and joint restoration products for extremities, hip, knee, and spine, announced today a successful first surgery using its new Vantage® Total Ankle System, the newest addition to the Exactech extremities product line and its first product in the foot and ankle market.

Orthopaedic surgeons Mark Easley, MD, and James Nunley, MD, of Duke University, performed the first case with the ankle implant in Durham, N.C. “The surgical team and I were pleased that the Vantage Total Ankle replacement went exactly according to plan,” Easley said. “After several years of thoughtful development and design, the anatomic implants, practical instrumentation and relatively simple technique performed as they were designed. Based on proprietary anatomic data, the Exactech Vantage Total Ankle team of surgeons and engineers developed an innovative total ankle design that features both anatomic talar and tibial components.”

Easley also added, “The technique, with its favorable tibial and talar bone preparation which was clearly designed with minimal bone resection in mind, affords optimal support for the anatomically shaped implants. The Vantage Total Ankle has a reproducible and surgeon-friendly technique.”

Exactech Vice President of Extremities Marketing Darin Johnson said, “We had the privilege to design this product with some of the best thought leaders in the world who have dedicated their careers to the treatment of the ankle. Our team is proud to be a part of successfully improving the surgical outcome for one patient and laying the foundation for many, many more in the years to come. This marks a strategic expansion into the foot and ankle market where we will leverage Exactech’s founding principle of solving clinical challenges in collaboration with surgeons in order to improve the lives of patients. It is an exciting time.”

This ankle system represents years of collaboration among Exactech and a design team of esteemed surgeons including: James Nunley, MD; James DeOrio, MD; and Mark Easley, MD, of Duke University in Durham, N.C.; and Victor Valderrabano, MD, PhD, of Swiss Ortho Center of Schmerzklinik Basel in Basel, Switzerland.

Full market availability of the Vantage Total Ankle System in the United States is planned for 2017.

About Exactech

Based in Gainesville, Fla., Exactech develops and markets orthopaedic implant devices, related surgical instruments and biologic materials and services to hospitals and physicians. The company manufactures many of its orthopaedic devices at its Gainesville facility. Exactech’s orthopaedic products are used in the restoration of bones and joints that have deteriorated as a result of injury or diseases such as arthritis. Exactech markets its products in the United States, in addition to more than 30 markets in Europe, Latin America, Asia and the Pacific. Additional information about Exactech can be found at http://www.exac.com.

An investment profile on Exactech may be found at http://www.hawkassociates.com/profile/exac.cfm. To receive future releases in e-mail alerts, sign up at http://www.hawkassociates.com/about/alert.

This release contains various forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, which represent the company’s expectations or beliefs concerning future events of the company’s financial performance. These forward-looking statements are further qualified by important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. These factors include the effect of competitive pricing, the company’s dependence on the ability of third party manufacturers to produce components on a basis which is cost-effective to the company, market acceptance of the company’s products and the effects of government regulation. Results actually achieved may differ materially from expected results included in these statements.