PRNewswire/ — HAPPE Spine, an emerging leader in the development of next generation orthopedic and spinal implants enabled by the HAPPE™ material platform, announces strategic new additions to its Board of Directors. Following a $3.35 million Series A capital raise, a new five-member Board of Directors was established to strengthen leadership as HAPPE Spine moves towards its first FDA 510(k) clearance. The new additions to the Board bring decades of additional spine industry leadership and executive experience.
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., March 28, 2022 Steven M. Foster has over thirty years of marketing, sales, operations, and general management experience in the medical device space, primarily in spine. He currently serves as CEO & President of Tenon Medical, Inc. Mr. Foster spent the majority of his career within the Danek Group / Sofamor Danek / Medtronic Spine organization where he held a variety of positions in marketing, sales administration, and general management, including VP/GM of Medtronic Spine’s Western Europe operations. He holds a Bachelor of Science, Business Administration from Central Michigan University.
Mr. Foster said, “I am excited by technologies that solve real problems. The HAPPE material platform overcomes the limitations of both titanium and PEEK in interbody spinal fusion. I couldn’t be more excited to work with the HAPPE team.”
Andrew Iott brings twenty years of experience in medical device product development and commercialization, with extensive knowledge of spinal implants. As a co-founder of Globus Medical, Mr. Iott played a critical role in taking the company from a startup to a worldwide leader in orthopedics. He holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Clemson University and is a named inventor on over 100 patents. He currently consults with a number of companies and sits on various boards.
Mr. Iott said, “I’m honored to join the board of HAPPE Spine. HAPPE’s porous and bioactive PEEK technology is a critical advancement in materials for spinal implants. I’m excited to see the benefits that HAPPE’s products will bring to orthopedic procedures.”
The remaining seats on the board are filled by Dr. Ryan K. Roeder (Founder and CTO), Todd Smullen (Praxa Medical), and Doug Snell (Genesis Innovation Group) who also serves as Head of Engineering, Manufacturing, and Product Development.
About HAPPE Spine:
HAPPE Spine LLC is a medical device development company that designs and commercializes innovative spinal implants utilizing the patented HydroxyApatite Porous PolyEtheretherketone (HAPPE™) material platform. HAPPE transforms polyetheretherketone from a hydrophobic, bioinert, and non-integrating material into a hydrophilic, bioactive, and osteointegrating material, confirmed by robust bone in-growth and on-growth in preclinical testing. HAPPE is developing the Pro-Fuse™ interbody fusion system, which is the first interbody fusion cage to offer bone-like cancellous porosity with bioactive surfaces through the entire implant height to promote endplate-to-endplate osteointegration. Pro-Fuse is designed to promote both load bearing and healing, as well as superior post-operative imaging. The HAPPE Pro-Fuse™ interbody fusion system thus offers allograft-like qualities in a synthetic implant that can improve clinical outcomes in interbody spinal fusion by overcoming the problems of pseudoarthrosis, subsidence and imaging artifacts that limit current PEEK and titanium implants.
Learn more about HAPPE Spine and HAPPE™ material platform at happeortho.com.
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SOURCE HAPPE Spine