Osteotech Inc. announced Wednesday that it has obtained theexclusive U.S. marketing rights for all present and future devices andinstruments for spine surgery developed by the Germanmanufacturer Ulrich KG.

In particular, Osteotech of Shrewsbury, N.J., will market Ulrich'suniversal spine instrumentation system (USIS), which includes theZielke spinal implant system used by orthopedic and neurologicalsurgeons to correct spinal curvatures caused by disease, trauma anddegeneration.

The two companies also intend to work together to develop otherspinal devices. Osteotech (NASDAQ:OSTE), which is developingbiomaterials for musculoskeletal surgery, has already built amarketing organization to represent its bone allograft technology toorthopedic and neurosurgeons, according to Patrick McBrayer, thecompany's president and chief executive officer.

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