TRICARE® ARMED FORCES HEALTH CARE PROGRAM TO PROVIDE ACCESS TO SBi's STAR™ TOTAL ANKLE REPLACEMENT SYSTEM
NEW YORK, NY: March 28, 2011 –Small Bone Innovations, Inc. (SBi) announced today the 9.6 million beneficiaries of the US Department of Defense TRICARE® health care program, which covers armed forces personnel, retirees and their families, will now have access to SBi's STAR™ Total Ankle Replacement system.
The STAR is the only total ankle replacement approved through the FDA's rigorous pre-market approval (PMA) process.
SBi is a privately-owned orthopedics company focused exclusively on serving patients and their physicians with technologies and treatments for joint replacement (arthroplasty) and post-traumatic reconstruction of the small bones & joints of the thumb, fingers, hand, wrist, elbow, toes, foot & ankle.
Michael S. Pinzur¹, MD, Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation at Loyola University Health System in Chicago, said: "My practice is focused on foot and ankle disorders and total ankle replacement is indicated as a viable alternative to ankle fusion. It appears to provide pain relief without sacrificing valuable ankle motion and is an important option for surgeons treating TRICARE members and all other patients with advanced forms of ankle arthritis."
Dr.h.c. Anthony G. Viscogliosi, Executive Chairman & CEO of SBi, added: "Armed forces personnel and their families deserve the most advanced technologies and treatments. The benefits of the STAR ankle suggest it could become the gold standard for advanced ankle arthritis treatment."
Total patient access to the STAR ankle in U.S. government health care plans has reached all of the almost 100 million eligible individuals, according to SBi's reimbursement consultant, Musculoskeletal Clinical Regulatory Advisers, LLC (MCRA).
¹Dr. Pinzur is paid consultant to SBi - providing education services.
About Small Bone Innovations, Inc.
Small Bone Innovations, Inc. (SBi) was founded in 2004 by Viscogliosi Brothers, LLC (VB), a New York-based merchant banking firm that specializes in the musculoskeletal/orthopedics sector. VB created SBi as the first company to focus purely on small bones & joints. By integrating established companies and professionals in the field, SBi offers a broad, clinically proven portfolio of products and technologies to treat trauma and diseases in small bones & joints. Today, SBi has facilities in New York, NY, Morrisville, PA, Bourg-en-Bresse, France, Donaueschingen, Germany, and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and has sold its products in 46 countries. For more information on SBi, please visit: www.totalsmallbone.com
Forward-looking statements
This news release contains forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements as a result of risks and uncertainties impacting SBi’s business including increased competition; the ability of SBi to expand its operations and to attract and retain qualified professionals; technological obsolescence; general economic conditions; and other risks.