Bacterin Study At AAOS 2012 Annual Meeting Shows OsteoSpongeĀ® Equivalence To RhBMP-2 In Spinal Fusion; Presented Specifically To Orthopaedic Surgeons

BELGRADE, Mont., Feb. 10, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --  Bacterin International Holdings, Inc. (NYSE Amex: BONE), a leader in the development of revolutionary bone graft material and antimicrobial coatings for medical applications, presented at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) 2012 Annual Meeting in San Francisco, CA, its study showing OsteoSponge® equivalence to rhBMP-2 in spinal fusion.

The study, first presented at EuroSpine 2011 in Milan, Italy in October of last year, was this past week featured at AAOS 2012, the largest gathering of companies displaying products and services specifically for the orthopaedic surgeon.

Since OsteoSponge has been released, surgeons have used Bacterin's bone graft implants more than 100,000 times, noting the product's unique handling properties, ability to irrigate the site, and quick insertion of the OsteoSponge scaffold into a bony defect or a spinal interbody cage.

"AAOS is a great stage to get in front of orthopaedic surgeons, who are the users of OsteoSponge," said Guy Cook, Bacterin's chairman and CEO. "Data from this study further validates OsteoSponge's effectiveness in spinal fusion surgery, and we were pleased to present to and meet with a highly targeted audience."

Used in conjunction with the patients' own bone marrow aspirate, OsteoSponge is a highly effective osteoinductive and osteoconductive bone scaffold that aids in spinal fusion. The study was conducted in collaboration with researchers at the Salt Lake Orthopaedic Clinic, Spine Surgery of Salt Lake City.

The two-year prospective, randomized, and blinded clinical data showed OsteoSponge to be equivalent to rhBMP-2 in achieving an interbody fusion based upon radiographic assessment, CT scans, and quality of life outcomes. Additionally, patients receiving the OsteoSponge graft reported statistically significant less leg pain at one year relative to the rhBMP-2 group.

The abstract of this presentation, which evaluated the effectiveness of Bacterin's OsteoSponge allograft for use in lumbar spinal fusion and entitled, "Lumbar Interbody Fusion with OsteoSponge Demineralized Allograft in a PEEK Cage Compared to Fusion with rhBMP-2: Long Term Post-Operative Assessment," was published in European Spine Journal (Volume 20, Supplement 4, 421-464).