AOFAS PREVIEW - PART 1 : Up-and-Comers

Issue Date: September 6, 2022

ANNOUNCEMENTS

This week we are going to cover the first of 3 newsletters dedicated to previewing the upcoming AOFAS meeting taking place September 14 – 17 in Quebec City. The companies profiled this week are “up-and-comers” with some disruptive technology in terms of technique and material.

We also look at some of the featured symposiums which cover, not surprisingly, some of the biggest topics in Foot and Ankle today in terms of device – TAR, SPORTS, and MIS.

To add a little fun, we are adding in a voting metric to gauge which specific talk from each section you would be most interested in hearing. So, play along and VOTE, its your right as a FAN.

Thank you to all the Foot and Ankle Marketing Teams who contacted us in regard to the AOFAS preview. Your feedback is greatly appreciated, and the content provided will be used in the next 2 newsletters prior to the meeting. Its not to late to contact us.

Thank you again to DEMOBONE, for sponsoring this edition of Foot and Ankle News. Check them out for all of your Foot and Ankle training needs.

Hit us up with feedback anytime at footandanklenews@gmail.com.

This Week in FAN

Company Previews - Up-and-Comers Series (Ossio, Fusion Ortho, Coventus Flower)

AOFAS PROGRAM - FAN Favorites (TAR, Sports, MIS) and FAN Vote

FAN Archives

PodiatryMeetings.com Calendar of Events

AOFAS Meetings Updated Listing

COMPANY PREVIEWS: UP-AND-COMERS

OSSIO

Fiber Compression Staples

Ossio is making a move into the hardware space with the launch of their OSSIO Fiber compression staples.

The staples are due to launch in Q4 of this year.

The OSSIOFIBER COMPRESSION STAPLES provide equivalent or SUPERIOR compression and strength as a Nitinol staple, but because they are made from All-Natural OSSIOfiber, they safely and reliably integrate into the bone over a two-year period. NO need for hardware removal and no nickel for patients with allergies. The staples will show how OSSIOfiber can and will change the face of the orthopedic market. It’s time to move beyond the centuries of metal iteration and leap into real innovation. OSSIOfiber is the first creditable replacement to metal implants in orthopedic history.

OSSIO started with screws, then an anchor system, and now compression staples. OSSIO is creating a platform of implants used in high volume procedures to showcase the companies technology to a larger player ready to differentiate away from their metal. If these products perform as advertised and they can create a plating system that is close to equivalent in performance of metal, I foresee a large exit in the future for the OSSIO team.

Fusion Orthopedics

LapiLock

The success of Fusion Orthopedics, at this moment, starts and ends with their LAPILOCK system. What makes a good rotational bunion product? Reproducibility without the “Fiddle Factor.” Lapilock took full aim at TREACE Medical a few months back with the announcement of the system and is ready to answer surgeon demand with a full market launch of the product in Q3.

TREACE is a monster in terms of surgical volume, expecting a sales revenue number of close to 130 million for 2022. Surgeon loyalty runs high due to an exceptional direct to patient marketing strategy. Lapilock is right behind them with a surgeon locator of their own. To make a dent in the TREACE armor, Lapilock will need to expand its independent distribution quickly. They may be in luck in finding some distributors as TREACE is moving to a W2 in some markets.

Fusion believes the LapiLock 4D Advanced Bunion Surgery is superior for many reasons:

1. Surgeon’s choice of over 13 options for fixation;

2. Counter pressure will never break a patient’s second metatarsal;

3. No c-clamp eliminating metatarsal “spring-back” risk;

4. Minimal bone resection to better maintain first metatarsal length;

5. Adjustability of dorsal flex or plantar flex of the first metatarsal;

6. Fulcrum-less surgical technique;

7. Single jig for all steps to eliminate risk/loss of correction;

8. Faster operating room time intended;

9. Flexibility in pricing to address unmet market demand

TREACE aside, the fight will be an uphill battle against the likes of Stryker Lapifuse and other rotational bunion systems on the market. If Fusion can gain some traction, this system alone could bring an acquisition from a company looking to take a flyer on a finished, proven product.

Coventus Flower

Flex Thread

Flower Orthopedics, recently acquired by Coventus, is known to most people as the original fully sterile implant company. Flower has pockets of users, a full portfolio of foot and ankle plating systems, but really haven’t made any kind of splash when it comes to brand recognition. However, the FLEXTHREAD Fibular Nail, is starting to make some in-roads and may have the potential to give COVENTUS FLOWER a look from surgeons who may have not given it any consideration in the past.

Recent studies are showing excellent results in the use of a fibular nail in comparison of plates and screws in certain patient populations where a minimal incision is required to preserve soft tissue. The learning curve for surgeons experienced with ankle fractures is minimal as well. The Flex Thread comes in 6 sizes and offers a no profile distal locking screw for rotational stability. The nail is inserted like a screw and is made of a proprietary alloy to where it has the ability to flex and find the path of least resistance in the canal. Additionally, it has the capability to accept the FLOWER ROPE, a flexible syndesmotic fixation device.

Fibular Nails were the MIS version of Ankle Fractures before MIS was cool. The market has 5 current systems: Arthex (AOS and Fibulock), Acumed, Vilex, and the Flower Flex Thread. The ankle fracture market is massive, and controlled by Stryker, Synthes, Smith and Nephew, and Arthrex. Of those 4, only 1 has a fibular nail – the Arthrex Fibulock. The Flower Flex Thread could be an easy pick up for a one of the big guys looking to get in the game with a unique, ready to perform system without the hassle of an internal development process.

SURGICAL TECHNIQUE

AOFAS PROGRAM

Foot and Ankle News focuses on the device, the marketing, and the high-level business side of all things foot and ankle. AOFAS is a scientific meeting, but many of the talks have some relationship to device in one way or another. It’s interesting to see what products get mentioned and/or shown throughout the presentations in x-rays.

The presentations listed below are the talks we are looking forward to the most. There are some old school F&A “PODIUM GUYS” with a nice mix of “GENERATION NEXT” ready to duke it out in hopefully some lively discussion which we all can learn from.

Whether you are attending live, virtually, or not at all…let us know which talk you would be most interested in hearing by voting below.

Maybe AOFAS will provide us a video link of the winner that we could share in a future FAN?

Here is a link to the FULL 2022 AOFAS PROGRAM

FAN FAVORITE SYMPOSIUM - DAY 1

Ankle Arthritis: It's Complicated

Moderators: William C. McGarvey, MD, and Mark E. Easley, MD

Patient-Centered Care: What's Your Speech, TAR vs. Fusion?

Bruce J. Sangeorzan, MD

Working Up the Painful Total Ankle: Loose, Infected, or Can It "Just Hurt"?

Constantine A. Demetracopoulos, MD

Osteolysis After TAR

Steven L. Haddad, MD

Are We Ready for the Tsunami of Revision TAR?

Anish R. Kadakia, MD

When to Revise, When to Fuse, When to Amputate

Mark E. Easley, MD

Cast Your FAN Favorite Choice Below: Day 1

Bruce J. Sangeorzan, MD