Six New Product Launches, Plus Ex-Fix Specialists Worth Knowing

Originally published May 26, 2022 — ConMed · Extremity Medical · In2Bones · Stryker · Zimmer

Plus, new literature and some podcast links for your listening enjoyment.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Busy week for product releases, 4 companies announce the launch of 6 new products. We then go back to a FAN original of “QUICK HITS” from around the web that looks at a couple ex-fix specialty companies, new TAR literature, and some May F&A podcast releases with links for your listening enjoyment.

As always, thank you very much for reading this week, please tell all of your friends or share. We are very grateful for all of our 16,000+ FAN’s!

Please continue to contact us at footandanklenews@gmail.com

Sincerely,

Big Foot

This week we have:

Golden Demobone Award - Social Media
New Product Releases (In2Bones, Extremity Medical, Paragon28, Stryker)
FAN Quick Hits (Frame Game, TAR Survivorship, May Podcasts)
Access Past FAN Newsletters
PodiatryMeetings.com Calendar of Events
AOFAS Meetings Updated Listing

GOLDEN DEMOBONE AWARD

This week, the Golden Demobone Award is heading out West to Boise, ID. Our winner has an Instagram page packed with interesting posts that include big revisions, 3D customs, sports medicine, and much more. Congrats to Kaitlin Neary, MD.

Here is her INSTAGRAM PAGE, check it out and give her a follow!

Her FEATURED POST is a complex revision of a failed TAR with significant bone loss and a rigid valgus hindfoot. Dr. Neary salvaged the ankle with a RESTOR3Dcustom cage and a TTC fusion

with using a DJO Dynanail.

Follow FAN on LinkedIn!

https://www.linkedin.com/company/footandanklenews/

Follow FAN on Instagram!

https://www.instagram.com/footandanklenews/

NEW PRODUCT LAUNCHES

In2Bones: Colink Neofuse - Ankle Fusion Plating System

In2Bones, soon to be part of Conmed, launches an anterior ankle fusion plating system this week. The Colink Neofuse System includes 2 anterior plating style options – direct anterior and anterior lateral designs in two sizes (3 hole or 5 hole). The system includes a cannulated lag screw guide, now standard with all ankle fusion systems. The instrument set for the system includes the basics including plate templates to be used to size for the sterile packed plates and screws.

Overall, this system checks another box for In2Bones. It is hard to knock a company that is putting out product to compete with the market leaders for business, but if we are being honest this system is as vanilla as it gets. There is nothing remarkable about the system, not one thing. It lacks many plating options in terms of size and style, the most glaring is not offering a lateral plate of any kind. This system is better than nothing but will need to be significantly expanded upon by ConMed in order to realistically compete against Stryker, Arthrex, and Paragon28.

Paragon28: TenoTac® 2.0 and Grappler Soft Tissue Line

Paragon is back at it again, looking to take more market share in the soft tissue arena by expanding their suture anchor offering and releasing a V2 rendition of the unique TenoTak hammertoe product.

Let’s take a look at both:

TenoTac® 2.0

TenoTac® 2.0 offers an alternative tendon fixation method for hammer toe correction. While the procedure looks to have some fiddle factor, if it works, and the market adopts to the system, the number of these procedures offers a huge opportunity for P28. With TenoTac® 2.0, the Paratrooper Plantar Plate, and the Hammer Tube hammertoe implant, Paragon has a complete line of unique offerings to tackle tough forefoot deformities.

Grappler Soft Tissue Line

1) All Suture Anchor (1.4mm & 2.8mm options)

2) Titanium Corkscrew

(3.0mm & 4.5mm options)

3) Peek with Eyelet

(4.5mm & 5.5mm options)

This anchor portfolio offers options to get in the game and start to pick up some of the easy cases they are losing to Arthrex or Stryker when it comes to the basics. While titanium corkscrews are for sure "old school", the all-suture anchors are growing in popularity and the sizes offered are a nice option for lateral anchor stabilization. All these anchors come individually sterile packed with instruments making it very rep and ASC friendly for isolated or ancillary soft tissue procedures. The next line of innovation will need to come to battle the Internal Brace and Speed Bridge.

Extremity Medical: Omni Ankle Fracture System

Extremity Medical launches the Omni Ankle Fracture set this week, offering a wide variety of lateral, medial, and posterior plating options. The anatomic lateral fibula plate and the medial tibia plate offer a unique distal split tab design for versatile, anatomic plate contouring.

Extremity’s Omni Ankle Fracture System offers a stability post that can be combined with a distal to proximal, targeted cannulated lag screw for additional fracture stability. Overall, the set looks to be fairly complete, but will need a few longer plate options to be able to handle the vast majority of complex pilon fractures. A nice addition for the Jersey boys at Extremity Medical who are revamping their presence in foot and ankle.

One more thing…in addition to the Ankle Fracture release, Extremity also announced a new partnership with Dr. Joel Vernois to develop an MIS platform and training system for the company. Dr. Vernois developed the ProStep MIS system, owned by Stryker, now one of the most widely used MIS platforms on the market.

Exciting times for Extremity Medical and the future of MIS.

CLICK FOR PRESS RELEASE

Stryker: EasyFuse™ Dynamic Compression System

Stryker was in need of an upgrade to their Staple line to better compete with the strength profiles of DJO’s DynaClip. The EasyFuse Staple is a wide-bridge nitinol staple, complete with sterile instrumentation in a wide variety of sizes. While the product isn’t a gamechanger, it offers an upgrade to the Stryker FuseForce line in the lucrative nitinol staple market.

CLICK FOR PRESS RELEASE

TruAim: Lisfranc Guide

Stryker also teased the release of the TrueAim Lis Franc Guide and we were able to track down a little info on the product. It is a sterile packed screw targeting guide.

The TruAim Lisfranc System is a sterile single-use (single-procedure) Instrument Kit intended to aide in surgical reduction, targeting, and implantation of 5.0mm (cannulated) screws (such as Stryker Asnis III) and/or 4.5mm screws (such as Stryker Charlotte Lisfranc screws) during fixation of Lisfranc arthrodesis.

The Charlotte Lis Franc Systemwith a unique combo reduction/targeting guide has been a mainstay for many surgeons. I assume the TruAim was a Stryker project that was underway prior to the Wright buyout and it has been released because it was ready to go. I don’t really get it, but maybe people will like it? Who knows?

FAN QUICK HITS

FRAME GAME

Seal and Metalogix seem to be the two biggest free agent frames on the market. SEAL has a more robust portfolio and has recently hinted at some technology comparable to Orthospin that was recently purchased in December by Synthes for use with the MaxFrame. Metalogix has a unique posterior opening designed to eliminate the worry of patient swelling and a dual level forged base with strength testing equivalent to full circular frame fixators.

SEAL

SEAL’s purchase price will be much higher as the line is fully developed with – Pin to Bar, Mini Rail, Speed Frame, and Circular Frame. Eccentric CEO Nick Riccione, who previously sold his Stealth Ex-Fix Line to Wright Medical back in 2007, has stated that SEAL has cash on hand. If that is the case, they will not be looking to take a low level offer for their blood, sweat, and tears. Black and Red as they say!

METALOGIX

Metalogix on the other hand has some uniquely patented technology that will need to be improved upon and expanded to make it a threat. In the right hands, and with a few tweaks, a company could potentially acquire the device, invest some R&D, add in some surgeon input, and make Metalogix into an extensive ex-fix line.

Keep an eye on both of these companies, one will sell before the end of the year.

MAY TAR SURVIVORSHIP PAPERS

There are now a total of 10 FDA approved total ankle's on the market today. The Zimmer TM and the Hintegra are far down the list of in terms of market share. Neither have PSI. The Hintegra H3 is newer to the US market with an inexperienced sales force at Vilex. The lateral approach with a jig offers some hesitation for surgeons, even though, the design of the implant makes a ton of sense.

Does data matter to you?

New survivorship data for both were release this week:

JBJS - Hintermann Series H3

87.6% Survivorship at 15 years.
Mid Term – 96.6% Survivorship
Largest Study Cohort of Largest Study Cohort of Total Ankle Long Term Outcomes (683 patients, 722 ankles)