TheraCell Adds to Board

Northridge, Calif.-based TheraCell Inc. has named spine surgeon Gunnar B.J. Andersson, M.D., Ph.D., a director of the company and member of its surgeon advisory board, effective immediately. Andersson’s appointment expands the board to five directors. Two of the company’s five directors are spine surgeons.

“Dr. Andersson’s 45 years of broad experience across both clinical and commercial aspects of the industry will add a valuable perspective to our Board of Directors,” said Bradley E. Patt, Ph.D., Chairman and CEO. “We appreciate his willingness to serve as a director and look forward to benefiting from his judgment and input.”

“TheraCell has become an exciting and promising company and I am delighted to participate,” Andersson said. “They have developed an exciting new platform of demineralized bone fiber products and are partnering with a well-established tissue bank to take these initial products to market. These initiatives will help accelerate revenues and give the company credibility. I like the idea of oxygenating the demineralized bone fiber matrix to help cells survive in a deep graft. I believe that the extended team is excellent and I look forward to working with them to help the company succeed.”

Andersson is The Ronald L. DeWald, M.D. professor and chairman emeritus of the department of orthopedic surgery at Rush University Medical Center and a spine, back and neck surgeon at Midwest Orthopedics at Rush in Chicago, Ill. He was chairman of the department of orthopedic surgery from 1994 to 2008. Andersson has been at the forefront of spine surgery research and education for more than 30 years. He is a member of 17 editorial boards, editor-in-chief of Spinal News International, a deputy editor for Spine, founding editor of Contemporary Spine Surgery and an associate editor of Clinical Biomechanics. He is the author of over 330 original publications, over 160 books and book chapters and over 530 abstracts. Andersson is a past president of the Orthopaedic Research Society, the International Society for the Study of the Lumbar Spine and the American Academy of Disability Evaluating Physicians, and is currently president of the International Society for the Advancement of Spine Surgery. His activities in connection with commercial companies includes being a member of the scientific advisory boards at Zimmer, Smith and Nephew, Oratec, Pioneer, Angstrom, St Francis, and Bioset. He is currently on the scientific advisory boards at Allosource, Ouroboros, Biomatcell, and Spinal Kinetics, and is a member of the safety monitoring boards at Spinal Kinetics and ISTO. Andersson is also on the Spine Advisory board to United Healthcare.

TheraCell, Inc. is a regenerative medicine company developing advanced technologies for tissue repair for both the human and veterinary markets.