Alphatec Holdings Inc., parent company of Alphatec Spine Inc., a provider of spinal fusion technologies, has added two new executives with proven track records in the spine industry, naming Brian Snider as executive vice president of strategic marketing and product development, and Chris Ryan as area vice president of sales in the U.S. Central region. Drawing on their commercial spine experience, Snider and Ryan will focus on building brand awareness with surgeon customers and driving market demand for Alphatec’s differentiated product solutions. 
 
“I am pleased to welcome Brian to the Alphatec Senior Leadership Team,” said Terry Rich, Alphatec Spine’s CEO. “Brian’s arrival completes our efforts over the past few months to restructure Alphatec leadership by adding individuals with significant spine and orthopedic experience. Brian brings a track record of building strong surgeon relationships, product innovation, and commercialization, having brought to market over 30 innovative spine products and procedures.  We look forward to leveraging his energy and expertise, as we launch our new products, including Battalion Lateral and Arsenal Deformity, deepen our engagement with surgeons, and build our brand. I look forward to partnering with Brian and believe his contributions will help take Alphatec to the next level of innovation and growth.”
 
As Alphatec’s executive vice president of strategic marketing and product development, Snider will lead all aspects of the Company’s go-to-market strategy, including product development, marketing, brand awareness and driving market adoption.
 
Snider has spent the past 11 years focused on marketing, brand and product development, and global product management in the spine and medical device industries. Prior to joining Alphatec Spine, Snider spent nine years at NuVasive Inc., where he most recently served as the business lead of thoracolumbar anterior, and had substantial responsibility over the anterior column business, including XLIF and anterior column realignment. Before NuVasive, Snider held marketing leadership roles at Alveolus Inc., a medical device company focused on interventional stent technologies.  He started his career at KPMG consulting in various business units, including life sciences.
 
Snider has an M.B.A. from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from The George Washington University. 

As Alphatec’s area vice president of sales, Central, Ryan will be responsible for expanding the company’s presence in the Central United States, including building dedicated sales agent  relationships, targeting new customer and market opportunities, as well as providing service and support for existing surgeon customers. 
 
“I’m excited to bring Chris onboard as the first of our new regional area sales vice presidents,” said Rich. “Given the recent launch of our three new products—Arsenal Deformity, Battalion Lateral and XYcor Expandable Interbody—this is a perfect time for Chris to join the Alphatec team. Chris brings a combination of high-performing sales leadership and distribution channel transformation experience that will be crucial to leading our sales agent relationships and accelerating our growth. His reputation for high integrity, his deep understanding of the spine industry and his proven ability to drive significant revenue will make him an asset to our organization.”
 
Ryan brings more than 20 years of progressive spine sales leadership experience to Alphatec. Prior to joining Alphatec, Ryan held multiple sales leadership roles over a six-year period with Zimmer Biomet Spine, including as its vice president of U.S. sales and a member of the Zimmer Spine leadership team. Under Ryan's leadership, Zimmer’s U.S. Spine Sales channel underwent a substantial, strategic change in distribution, yielding significant annual revenue growth. Before Zimmer, Ryan served in a number of leadership capacities during his 14-year career at Medtronic plc, including regional vice president of Medtronic's Spinal and Biologics business unit, responsible for the company’s Central region.  
 
Ryan has a bachelor of science degree in economics from Western Michigan University. 
 
As an inducement to entering into employment with the company, the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors approved the following inducement awards:
 

• Snider: 75,000 restricted stock units (RSUs) and an option to purchase 75,000 shares of common stock.
• Ryan: 25,000 restricted stock units (RSUs) and an option to purchase 25,000 shares of common stock.

 
The RSUs will vest in equal installments annually over four years on each of the first four anniversaries of the first date of employment, assuming in each case the employee remains continuously employed by Alphatec as of such vesting date. In addition, the RSUs will fully vest upon a change in control of Alphatec.
 
The stock options will have an exercise price equal to the closing price per share of Alphatec’s common stock as reported by NASDAQ on the date of grant (March 20, 2017). The stock options will vest over four years, with 25 percent of the options vesting on the first anniversary of the date of grant and the remainder of the options vesting monthly over the subsequent three years, assuming in each case the employee remains continuously employed by Alphatec as of such vesting date. In addition, the options will fully vest upon a change in control of Alphatec.
 
Alphatec Spine Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Alphatec Holdings Inc., designs, develops, and markets spinal fusion technology products and solutions for the treatment of spinal disorders associated with disease and degeneration, congenital deformities and trauma. The Carlsbad, Calif.-based company markets products in the United States through independent sales agents and a direct sales force.