A Medical Device Daily
Regeneration Technologies (RTI; Alachua, Florida), a processor of orthopedic and other biologic implants, and Zimmer Holdings (Warsaw, Indiana) reported that they have signed an exclusive 10-year distribution agreement for a new allograft paste implant.
The bone paste implant — composed of inductive and carrier elements that are derived solely from human bone — will be delivered in flowable and moldable formulations. The moldable formulation includes additional bone chips for osteoconduction.
Handling and setting properties of the paste are designed so that the cohesive properties are maintained in a wet environment and so that the implant will conform and pack easily into the surgical site. The paste is provided pre-hydrated and at room temperature, and it is delivered sterile in a single stage delivery system.
The paste is comprised of allograft tissue that must pass a rigorous in vivo rat assay designed to screen out potentially underperforming and inflammatory demineralized bone from use. Financial terms of the agreement, which is effective immediately, were not disclosed. Initial shipments of the paste to Zimmer are expected during the fourth quarter of 2007.
Brian Hutchison, RTI's president/CEO and chairman. "This next generation allograft paste offers surgeons ease of use and better performance for a variety of applications where a bone void filler is needed."
Zimmer specializes in reconstructive and spinal implants, trauma and related orthopedic surgical products.
In other agreements:
• Osteotech (Eatontown, New Jersey) reported that it has expanded its tissue supply relationship with Community Tissue Services (CTS; Dayton, Ohio).
Osteotech first entered into an agreement with CTS in March 2006 under which CTS agreed to supply a specific number of cortical bone tissues to Osteotech each month. In February the parties amended the agreement to more than double the number of cortical bone tissues to be supplied by CTS to Osteotech each month. In May, CTS agreed to supply Osteotech with an annual minimum number of whole donors. The initial five-year term of the agreement began in March 2006 and will automatically renew for successive two-year terms unless terminated by either party six months prior to renewal.
Osteotech provides osteobiologic solutions for the repair of the musculoskeletal system. CTS is a not-for-profit organization that recovers, processes and distributes human tissue donations used for transplantation.
• Initiate Systems (Chicago), a provider of enterprise master person index (EMPI) solutions, and dbMotion (Hod Hasharon, Israel) a provider of healthcare information integration software that facilitates health information exchange (HIE), said they have partnered to create a solution that transforms the way patient health information is retrieved, integrated and managed.
The agreement combines dbMotion's interoperability offering with Initiate Identity Hub software for master data management, providing secure access to a real-time view of patient information.
"This unique partnership of industry leaders creates a solution that will meet our need for deep integration among systems and processes to support excellent patient care," said Duane Falk, director of enterprise integration at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (Pittsburgh). "UPMC and many other healthcare organizations need an interoperability solution to effectively tie together records from multiple sources."