Healthcare Industry News:  Viscogliosi Brothers 

Devices Orthopaedic Acquisitions

 News Release - December 7, 2010

SBi Sells Shoulder-Related Assets

Enables increased focus on SBi’s leading small bone & joint product lines

Transaction strengthens support for STAR(TM) Ankle program


NEW YORK--(Healthcare Sales & Marketing Network)-- Small Bone Innovations, Inc. (SBi), a leading, privately held orthopedics company focused primarily on arthroplasty and trauma reconstruction technology and treatments for the small bones & joints, has sold its shoulder-related assets. The transaction is not expected to have a material impact on SBi’s revenues.

Anthony G. Viscogliosi, Chairman & CEO of SBi, said: “This sale enables the company to concentrate exclusively on its fast-growing small bone & joint product portfolio in the thumb, fingers, hand, wrist, and elbow in the upper limb and foot & ankle anatomies - specifically the STAR™ Total Ankle joint replacement system. SBi will focus its efforts on anatomies where we can achieve market leadership and also maximize our ability to address the needs of hospitals, surgeons and patients.”

The proceeds from the sale will be used to streamline product management efforts and accelerate product introductions and launches – especially SBi’s market-share-leading STAR ankle, the only three-piece, cementless, mobile-bearing, total ankle replacement system to receive Pre-Market Approval (PMA) from the US FDA. The company will also dedicate additional resources to fund clinical studies of key products.

The shoulder-related assets will form the foundation of the product portfolio to be marketed by Fx Solutions of Rue de Majornas, 01440, Viriat, France (www.fxsolutions.fr), a French company headquartered in Bourg-en-Bresse and founded by Jean-Jacques Martin.

Mr. Martin is an orthopedic entrepreneur having also founded Fixano, SAS, a predecessor company of SBi. Fx Solutions is solely focused on products to treat shoulder fractures and trauma.

Mr.Martin, the President of Fx Solutions, said: “I believe that, with the innovative products we are acquiring from SBi as well as those in development, we will be able to advance the standard-of-care for shoulder fractures and trauma and successfully compete in the marketplace.”

Mr. Viscogliosi added: “The management team and Board of Directors determined that this transaction would allow the company to devote greater resources to STAR and other core upper and lower limb products and boost SBi’s focus on profitability. These shoulder products are already well received in the market and we believe that the focus that Mr. Martin and Fx Solutions bring to shoulder fractures and trauma will greatly enhance patient care. Additionally, the company would like to thank Mr. Martin for all his efforts and guidance to position SBi as a small bone & joint leader in the international marketplace.”

SBi has been attracting considerable attention in both the financial and the orthopedics sector. Out of nearly 5,200 companies considered, SBi was the only orthopedics company on the list of the top 50 U.S. VC-backed companies in the Wall Street Journal article “Sizing Up Promising Young Firms” on March 9, 2010. SBi was the 7th highest ranked healthcare company in the listing and was 24th amongst all 50 companies highlighted.

SBi closed on $12 million in Series E funding from Olympus Corporation in March 2010 and earlier secured a $30mm debt facility from Fortress Investment Group to fund accelerated business expansion and refinance existing indebtedness in November 2009. Last year SBi closed on $144 million in Series D and Series C funding from a group of investors including Khazanah Nasional Berhad (the investment firm of the Government of Malaysia), the Malaysian Technology Development Corporation (MTDC), an integrated Malaysian-based venture capital company, The Family Office of Bahrain, Viscogliosi Brothers, LLC, Trevi Health Ventures, NGN Capital, 3i Group, and TGap Ventures, among others.

About Small Bone Innovations, Inc.

Small Bone Innovations, Inc. (SBi) was founded in 2004 by Viscogliosi Brothers, LLC (VB), a New York-based merchant banking firm that specializes in the musculoskeletal/orthopedics sector. VB created SBi as the first company to focus purely on small bones & joints. By integrating established companies and professionals in the field, SBi offers a broad, clinically proven portfolio of products and technologies to treat trauma and diseases in small bones & joints. Today, SBi has facilities in New York, NY, Morrisville, PA, Bourg-en-Bresse, France, Donaueschingen, Germany, and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and has sold its products in 46 countries.

For more information on SBi, please visit: www.totalsmallbone.com

Forward-looking statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements as a result of risks and uncertainties impacting SBi’s business including increased competition; the ability of SBi to expand its operations and to attract and retain qualified professionals; technological obsolescence; general economic conditions; and other risks.


Source: Small Bone Innovations

Issuer of this News Release is solely responsible for its content.
Please address inquiries directly to the issuing company.



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