Healthcare Industry News:  Intramedullary 

Devices Orthopaedic

 News Release - November 18, 2009

Wright Medical Group, Inc. Announces Initial Release of the VALOR Ankle Fusion Nail System

New Foot & Ankle Product Solidifies Wright’s Market-Leadership in Products for Surgical Treatment of Hindfoot Arthritis

ARLINGTON, Tenn.--(HSMN NewsFeed)--Wright Medical Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: WMGI ), a global orthopaedic medical device company, today announced the limited release of the VALOR™ Ankle Fusion Nail. This new product introduction is an important solution for patients requiring fusion of the ankle joint primarily caused by arthritis, skeletal deformity or diabetes.

Designed by world-renowned foot and ankle surgeons, the VALOR™ Ankle Fusion Nail system is a comprehensive and advanced solution for fusion of three bones in the foot and ankle: the calcaneus, the talus and the tibia. The VALOR™ Ankle Fusion Nail system consists of multiple implant sizes, lengths and configurations which ensures an accurate fit based on patients’ needs. Each fusion nail implant incorporates an innovative compression device which allows surgeons to control the compression between the bone surfaces. This enhanced compression feature is designed to maximize the likelihood of a solid fusion, thereby alleviating pain.

Carroll P. Jones, M.D. of OrthoCarolina in Charlotte, North Carolina commented, “The VALOR™ Ankle Fusion Nail combines traditional Intramedullary fixation techniques with a novel internal compression technology, efficient and stable instrumentation along with a secure fixed angled construct. In my opinion, surgeons will find all of these benefits an improvement over other designs on the market.”

“Ankle arthritis is a growing problem, with two million people visiting the doctor every year because of pain from ankle arthritis or fractures,” states Bob Fencl, Director of Wright’s Foot and Ankle business. “While some of these patients are candidates for our INBONE™ total ankle replacement, many are best suited for a traditional fusion procedure. The addition of the VALOR™ fusion nail to Wright’s portfolio creates the surgeon convenience of a ‘one stop shop’ service point in treating these challenging cases.”

“The VALOR™ Ankle Fusion Nail is the next generation of fixation technology that incorporates accurate instrumentation for intra-operative reproducibility. Coupled with the INBONE™ total ankle replacement, Wright uniquely offers a comprehensive portfolio of products to address the challenges associated with complex ankle surgery,” notes Gregory C. Berlet, M.D. of the Orthopedic Foot and Ankle Center in Columbus, Ohio.

The new VALOR™ Ankle Fusion Nail will be made available in a limited-release immediately in the U.S. through Wright’s specialized foot and ankle sales force. Full rollout is expected to be completed by the second quarter of 2010. Additionally, the system will be marketed in select countries outside the U.S. through Wright’s direct and distributor-based sales representatives.

The VALOR™ Ankle Fusion Nail is the latest addition to Wright’s market-leading suite of products for foot and ankle surgeons. These include the CHARLOTTE™ family of reconstructive implants, DARCO® locked plating systems, ORTHOLOC™ polyaxial locking systems, the BIOARCH® subtalar implant, SIDE-KICK® External Fixators, CANCELLO-PURE® and BIOFOAM™ osteotomy wedge systems, ENDO-FUSE™ intra-osseous implants, DART-FIRE™ small screw systems, GRAFTJACKET® regenerative tissue matrix, and the INBONE™ total ankle replacement.

About Wright

Wright Medical Group, Inc. is a global orthopaedic medical device company specializing in the design, manufacture and marketing of reconstructive joint devices and biologics. The Company has been in business for more than 50 years and markets its products in over 60 countries worldwide. For more information about Wright Medical, visit our website at www.wmt.com.

This press release contains “forward-looking statements” as defined under U.S. federal securities laws. These statements reflect management’s current knowledge, assumptions, beliefs, estimates, and expectations and express management’s current views of future performance, results, and trends and may be identified by their use of terms such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “predict,” “project,” “will,” and other similar terms. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to materially differ from those described in the forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include those discussed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (including those described in Item 1A of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2008, under the heading, “Risk Factors” and our subsequently filed Exchange Act reports). Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Such statements are made as of the date of this press release, and we undertake no obligation to update such statements after this date.


Source: Wright Medical Group

Issuer of this News Release is solely responsible for its content.
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