Amedica Adds Four Executives

Salt Lake City, Utah-based Amedica Corporation, a spinal and reconstructive medical device manufacturer, has beefed up its executive management in preparation for efforts to shift the standard of care for interbody fusion devices toward proprietary silicon nitride ceramic. As a result, four appointments—senior vice president of market development, vice president of marketing, a senior vice president of sales, and a chief legal and compliance officer—have been added.

Amedica is focused on advancing medical applications of its proprietary silicon nitride ceramic. In November 2007, Amedica secured clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to manufacture and market silicon nitride-based interbody fusion devices. The resulting Valeo product line was launched in 2008. In September last year, FDA granted Amedica expanded biomaterial claims for the Valeo interbody fusion devices. In recent studies published in International Journal of Nanomedicine and Acta Biomaterialia, silicon nitride demonstrated anti-infective properties as well as superior new bone formation and osteointegration in comparison to PEEK (polyetheretherketone) and titanium. Also in September, Amedica received 510(k) clearance from the FDA to market a second-generation family of cervical and lumbar interbody fusion devices.

Vytas Rupinskas joins Amedica as vice president of marketing. Rupinskas brings more than 25 years of marketing experience in the orthopedic, spine, and neuromodulation medical device markets previously holding senior positions at St. Jude Medical, DePuy Orthopedics, DePuy International and DePuy Spine.

Paul Sendro, formerly senior vice president of sales for Amedica, will now be leading the company’s strategic market development initiatives. Paul has more than 20 years of experience in the orthopedic, trauma, and spine medical device industries. He has held leadership positions at U.S. Spine, Vertebron, Blackstone Medical, Stryker Inc., and Synthes USA.

Jim Abraham joins Amedica as senior vice president of sales, with more than 25 years of experience in the orthopedic, trauma, spine, biologics and dental markets. He comes to Amedica from Stryker Orthopedics and previously held a number of executive positions at companies such as IsoTis Orthobiologics, Regeneration Technologies, Encore Orthopedics and Sulzermedica.

Amedica named Kevin Ontiveros new chief legal and compliance officer. Kevin has more than 20 years of experience serving as in-house and outside corporate counsel for publicly traded and privately held medical device and biotechnology/pharmaceutical companies such as ImaRx Therapeutics Inc. and NPS Pharmaceuticals Inc.

“This is a momentous time for us as we expand our leadership team and gain extensive expertise and insights to further execute on our business strategy,” said Eric K. Olson, president and CEO of Amedica. “Rupinskas, Sendro, Abraham, and Ontiveros bring a wealth of experience to Amedica that will be critical to our ongoing success.”