ST. LOUIS, July 18, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ISTO Technologies Inc., a leading orthobiologics company focused on developing breakthrough products to regenerate and restore function to damaged cartilage and bone, announced the addition of a medical technology industry veteran, John Hart, to its senior management team. Mr. Hart joined the Company as its Chief Operating Officer as of July 16, 2012.
John Hart joins ISTO with over 30 years of medical device and life science experience. Most recently, John was President & CEO at Vidar Systems Corporation, a leading medical imaging company located in Herndon, VA. Prior to that, John held senior leadership positions in general management, marketing and sales with Stryker Orthopedics and U.S. Surgical (now Covidien).
"John is a highly accomplished and focused healthcare executive and we are excited to add him to our senior management team," commented Mitchell Seyedin, Ph.D President & CEO. "His extensive experience in sales, marketing and operations should accelerate progress and growth in our commercial programs."
"I am excited to be joining the ISTO Technologies team. ISTO has some of the most exciting and differentiated products for the orthopedic and spine markets either in the market or in development. These products have the potential to offer advanced treatments and breakthroughs for patients suffering from back pain or knee injuries and I am looking forward to helping the company continue its strong growth," said Mr. Hart.
ISTO's proprietary cell-based orthobiologic platform harnesses the regenerative capacity of juvenile cartilage cells to create products designed to repair and restore function to damaged tissue. The company believes that the two clinical-stage products currently comprising ISTO's cell-based program, DeNovo® ET and NuQuTM, potentially represent breakthrough technologies addressing two significant unmet medical needs: damaged knee cartilage and discogenic back pain. These products utilize juvenile chondrocytes that have a proven superior capacity for cartilage regeneration compared to adult cells. Additionally, ISTO's patented cell-expansion process allows for a scalable, off-the-shelf solution not possible with autologous cell-based technologies.
DeNovo ET, a scaffold-free engineered cartilage tissue, is intended for the repair of damaged articular cartilage in the knee. ISTO believes the product represents a novel treatment for cartilage repair. DeNovo ET is being developed in partnership with Zimmer Inc.
NuQu is an injectable juvenile chondrocyte therapy for early intervention and restoration of disc function in patients suffering from discogenic back pain. There is currently no effective treatment for intervertebral disc repair and this minimally-invasive ambulatory treatment potentially represents a breakthrough and cost-effective solution for discogenic back pain.
In addition to ISTO's cell-based cartilage programs, the company is currently producing and marketing, InQu®, a bone graft extender and substitute. InQu is a platform technology for tissue regeneration and is used primarily as an osteobiologic product in spinal fusion applications. InQu is a unique molecular entanglement of hyaluronic acid and a synthetic polymer to create a three-dimensional scaffold with a cell-friendly environment for bone growth. InQu has been used in over 17,000 surgeries at U.S. hospitals to date.
About ISTO
ISTO is a privately-held orthobiologics company dedicated to improving patient quality of life through the development of proprietary products for spinal therapies and sport medicine applications. ISTO's products are intended for the repair and regeneration of damaged or injured cartilage and bone. For additional information on ISTO, please visit our website at www.istotech.com.