Item 1. Business
Item 1. Business.
Overview
We are a commercial-stage regenerative medicine company focused on creating the next generation of differentiated products and improving outcomes in patients undergoing surgery, concentrating on patients receiving implantable medical devices. From our proprietary tissue processing platforms, we have developed a portfolio of advanced regenerative medical products that are designed to be very similar to natural biological material. Our proprietary products, which we refer to as our Core Products, are designed to address the implantable electronic device/cardiovascular, orthopedic/spinal repair and soft tissue reconstruction markets, which represented a combined $3 billion market opportunity in the United States in 2020. To expand our commercial reach, we have commercial relationships with major medical device companies, such as Boston Scientific and Biotronik, to promote and sell some of our Core Products. We believe our focus on our unique regenerative medicine platforms and our Core Products will ultimately maximize our probability of continued clinical and commercial success and will create a long-term competitive advantage for us.
We estimate that, over the past two years, approximately two million patients per year in the United States were implanted with either medical devices, such as pacemakers, defibrillators, neuro-stimulators, spinal fusion and trauma fracture hardware or tissue expanders for breast reconstruction. This number has been driven by advances in medical device technologies and an aging population with a growing incidence of comorbidities, including diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular and peripheral vascular diseases. These comorbidities can exacerbate various immune responses and other complications that can be triggered by a device implant.
Our Core Products are targeted to address unmet clinical needs with the goal of promoting healthy tissue formation and avoiding complications associated with medical device implants, such as scar-tissue formation, capsular contraction, erosion, migration, non-union of implants and implant rejection. We believe that we have developed the only biological envelope, which is covered by a number of patents, that forms a natural, systemically vascularized pocket for holding implanted electronic devices. We have a proprietary processing technology for manufacturing bone regenerative products for use in orthopedic/spinal repair that preserves a cell’s ability to regenerate bone and decelerates cell apoptosis, or programmed cell death. We have a patented cell removal technology that produces undamaged extracellular matrices for use in soft tissue reconstruction. In pre-clinical and clinical studies, our products have supported and, in some cases,
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accelerated tissue healing, and thereby improved patient outcomes. Our Core and Non-Core product portfolio is highlighted in the table below.
Our growth strategy is focused on increasing penetration in our target markets. We believe we can expand our commercial penetration in these markets and thereby grow our business by increasing our direct sales force and developing and launching more clinically relevant products from our pipeline and, when possible and appropriate, from acquisitions.
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Our go-to-market strategy includes a hybrid of a direct sales force, commercial partners and independent sales agents. As of December 31, 2021, we had 31 direct sales representatives who focus on gaining additional market access and driving market penetration, not only by selling our products, but also, where appropriate, by managing our commercial partners and providing technical assistance for selling our products. Through our direct sales force and leveraging our existing commercial partners, we believe we can expand our customer base and further strengthen our existing customer relationships and increase penetration in our target markets.
We have a well-established and scalable manufacturing platform, consisting of two facilities that are supported by our corporate headquarters. Our Silver Spring, Maryland location is our headquarters and functions as a research and development and corporate support center. Our Roswell, Georgia location is our processing, production and distribution facility for all our implantable electronic device/cardiovascular products. Our Richmond, California location is our human tissue products facility. We believe we have sufficient operating capacity at both our Roswell and Richmond facilities to support future growth.
Net sales from our Core Products grew from $36.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2020 to $37.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, representing an annual growth rate of 4%. Our total net sales increased from $42.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2020 to $47.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, representing annual growth of 11%. Our gross margins declined from 48% in the year ended December 31, 2020 to 40% in the year ended December 31, 2021. Our gross margins, excluding intangible asset amortization, decreased from 56% in the year ended December 31, 2020 to 47% in the year ended December 31, 2021. We incurred a net loss of $21.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2020 and $24.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2021.
Gross margin, excluding intangible asset amortization, is a non-GAAP financial measure. See “Non-GAAP Financial Measures” under Part II, Item 7. “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” for a discussion regarding our use of gross margin, excluding intangible asset amortization, including its limitations and a reconciliation to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure.
Our Competitive Strengths
Our mission is to provide advanced regenerative care products that improve the outcomes in patients primarily undergoing implantable device-related surgery. To accomplish this mission, we intend to establish our Core Products as the standard of care for treating patients undergoing such procedures. We believe our key competitive strengths position us well to execute on our growth strategy. Our key competitive strengths are:
Well-positioned in Large, Attractive and Growing Markets . We believe that the implantable electronic devices/cardiovascular, the orthopedic/spinal repair and the soft tissue reconstruction markets, which represented a combined $3 billion market opportunity in the United States in 2020, will continue to experience accelerated growth, given advancements in implantable medical device technologies to treat more medical conditions and shifting global demographics that include an aging population; a greater incidence of comorbidities, such as diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular and peripheral vascular diseases; and increasing numbers of mastectomies and lumpectomies. We believe there is growing adoption of regenerative medicine products by the medical community as physicians become aware of the benefits of natural products, including reduced inflammation, scar-tissue formation and foreign body response.
Regenerative Medicine Technology Focus . Our scientific expertise and know-how in regenerative medicine technology has allowed us to develop our proprietary platforms to create differentiated biomaterials, including our Core Products: CanGaroo, ProxiCor, Tyke, VasCure, Fiber VBM, ViBone, OsteGro V and SimpliDerm. These types of products, which are designed to more closely resemble natural products than similar traditionally processed products, have enabled us to advance the science of regenerative medicine as well as to process tissue and produce products at commercial scale.
Broad Portfolio of Core Products to Address the Needs of Physicians, Patients and Providers. Physicians use our broad portfolio of regenerative medicine products to meet the needs of individual patients. The breadth of our current portfolio, which includes products used in implantable electronic devices/cardiovascular, orthopedic/spinal repair and soft tissue reconstructive procedures, gives us the flexibility to target a broad set of procedures, each with a full suite
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of products to accommodate both the clinical and economic factors that may affect purchasing decisions. Our experienced contracting and direct sales force teams are highly trained to assist clinicians in effectively using the full complement of our products.
Large and Growing Body of Clinical Data and FDA Cleared Products . We have significant regulatory experience in obtaining FDA clearance for regenerative medicine products requiring 510(k) clearance and in navigating the comprehensive regulatory framework that applies to human cells, tissues and cellular and tissue-based products, or HCT/Ps. We have and continue to develop a body of pre-clinical, clinical and patient outcomes data, including third-party publications that reviewed the technical and clinical attributes of our products. We believe that our extensive in vivo and clinical data give us a competitive advantage.
Relationships with Care Providers. Our medical and commercial teams have established extensive customer relationships in the healthcare industry. We have developed excellent relationships with physicians, nurses and hospital administrators. We believe we are well-positioned to leverage these relationships to increase our penetration in our target markets.
Commercial Relationships with Major Medical Device Companies. We have commercial agreements with major medical device companies, including Boston Scientific, Biotronik, Surgalign Holdings and others, which we collectively refer to as our commercial partners, to promote or commercialize some of our products. Our commercial partners use their own network of more than 1,400 sales representatives, clinical specialists and independent sales agents, including approximately 1,200 of which are focused on our CanGaroo product. We leverage this additional presence in targeted markets to significantly increase our opportunity to cost-effectively penetrate these large markets.
Established and Scalable Manufacturing and Commercial Infrastructure. We have well-established relationships to obtain the human and animal tissues, which we need to manufacture our products, in the quantity needed and in a manner that preserves their integrity. We have sufficient capacity to increase the scale of our manufacturing, and the required quality control and regulatory capabilities to ensure that our products meet established specifications. We have developed rigorous medical, clinical, manufacturing, distribution and logistics capabilities designed to comply with FDA requirements. We pair our operational capabilities with a strong commercial team of sales, marketing and contracting professionals. Our established regulatory, operational and commercial infrastructure provides a firm foundation for growth as we continue to scale our business.
Executive Management Team with Extensive Experience in Regenerative Medicine. Our executive management team has extensive experience in the regenerative medicine and medical device industries. This experience allows us to operate with a deep understanding of the underlying trends in regenerative medicine and the intertwined scientific, clinical, regulatory, commercial and manufacturing functions that drive success in this industry. We believe our team has the necessary experience to lead us through our continued commercial expansion and the development and launch of our pipeline products.
Our Growth Strategy
The key elements of our growth strategy are:
Increase Penetration in Our Target Markets. We believe that the potential for growth in regenerative medicine in our target market segments presents a long-term opportunity to increase the use of our products. We plan to continue our growth and accelerate our penetration into our target markets through our direct sales force and by leveraging our relationships with our commercial partners that have well-established and significant cardiac rhythm and orthopedic/spinal sales infrastructure and experience in our target markets. We believe the breadth and flexibility of our current portfolio of products provides us with the capability to address a wider variety of implantable device procedures and soft tissue reconstructions, all of which should offer significant new growth opportunities.
Robust Pipeline of Innovative Core Products from Our Proven Research and Development Capabilities. We have brought to market three commercial Core Products in the past three years. In addition to our current core commercial products, we have a pipeline of products being developed for the implantable electronic devices/cardiovascular
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market, the orthopedic/spinal repair market and the soft tissue reconstruction market that we expect to launch in the future. We will continue to conduct pre-clinical and clinical studies, gather patient data and perform other research to support the further adoption of our products in the marketplace.
Expanding the Reach of Our Direct Sales Force . As of December 31, 2021, we had 31 direct sales representatives who focus on gaining additional market access and driving market penetration, not only by selling our products, but also, where appropriate, by managing our commercial partners and providing technical assistance for selling our products. Our sales team provides the critical knowledge of the advantages that our biological products provide for patients over those of our competitors. We plan to grow our sales organization in order to launch new products, expand our network of hospital and physician customers, drive deeper penetration in current accounts and provide additional technical assistance to our commercial partners. We believe there is a significant opportunity to grow our business through this continued expansion of our commercial footprint.
Additional Growth through Selective Acquisitions. We have demonstrated our ability to identify acquisition opportunities and integrate assets that complement our strategy and generate revenue and incremental gross profits. We were created in 2015 through the spin-out of the musculoskeletal division of Tissue Banks International (“TBI”) now KeraLink International (“KeraLink”), which provided us with tissue processing capabilities. We created additional value from this transaction by hiring scientific expertise to enhance these assets and develop a next generation of products. We then formed strategic partnerships to sell these products and improve our financial performance. Similarly, in 2017, we acquired biomaterial medical device assets, centered around the product we now sell as CanGaroo, from CorMatrix Cardiovascular. We followed the model that we had developed with the TBI asset acquisition. We brought in experienced leadership and expanded our clinical and commercial teams, which provided us with the opportunity to form new partnerships and commercialize CanGaroo. As a result, we again accelerated the growth of our revenue stream. We will continue to evaluate possible acquisitions that complement our existing portfolio and leverage our established commercial and manufacturing infrastructure.
Our Core Products/Solutions
Our portfolio of regenerative medicine Core Products has been developed to address the following specific markets:
Implantable Electronic Devices/Cardiovascular Market
Market Opportunity
In 2019, we estimate, based on industry sources and other third-party estimates, that there were more than 600,000 procedures in the United States to install or replace implantable electronic devices, such as pacemakers, pulse generators and defibrillators, as well as spinal cord neuromodulators and vagus nerve, deep brain and sacral nerve stimulators, which represents an estimated $600 million opportunity.
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Limitations of Existing Solutions
Implantable electronic devices are now the standard of care for patients suffering from cardiac arrhythmias and heart failure. Such devices are implanted in soft tissue, which is not heavily vascularized, and its implantation may trigger a biologic response that results in inflammation and fibrosis, leading to the device and its wire leads being encased in dense or calcified fibrous material.
In 2015, a group of third-party researchers published a systematic review and meta-analysis of 60 published reports, consisting of 21 prospective, nine case-control and 30 retrospective cohort studies published between 1981 and 2013, each of which examined the rate of infection associated with the implantation of electronic devices. The average rate of infection was between 1.0 and 1.3% and the reported rates of infection ranged from 0.3 to 16.4%. In 2019, a different group of third-party researchers published the results of a global, prospective randomized clinical study focused on infection complications of implantable electronic cardiovascular devices which identified a 1.2% mean infection rate during 12-month follow-up in the control arm (3,488 patients), and this was later reported by other third-party researchers in 2020 to rise to 1.9% at the 36 months follow-up. However, infection is not the only significant complication associated with implantation. Data from third-party studies published in 2011 and 2016 indicated that migration occurred in 0.5 to 10.9% of such procedures, and data from third-party studies published in 2001 and 2007 indicated that erosion of the device through the skin occurred in 0.2 to 5.0% of such procedures. Thus, migration and erosion have been shown to be similarly frequent and can both result in infection or require replacement of the device. Other complications include those associated with Twiddler’s syndrome, which is a malfunction of a pacemaker due to manipulation of the device by the patient, and discomfort at the implant site. In addition, capsular contracture can occur when scar tissue, or a capsule, around the device tightens and squeezes the implant. Capsular contraction may be more common following infection, collection of blood, or hematoma, and collection of the watery portion of blood, or seroma.
As patients with implants live longer, device reoperations are ever more common, including those to replace or upgrade the device, or to replace or revise the wire leads. The dense, under-vascularized capsule surrounding a device and its wire leads makes replacement or revision more difficult, increases the time needed for the extraction and replacement procedure and progressively increases the risk of infection. An increasing proportion of these cardiovascular electronic devices, that is, cardioverter/defibrillators, are now larger, heavier and more complex and have a greater frequency of complications associated with them than the smaller, less heavy and less complex devices. For neurostimulator devices, the common location of these devices, which is in the soft tissue of the abdomen or back, increases the risk of migration and erosion and that of patient discomfort when sleeping or sitting.
In 1972, Dr. Victor Parsonnet reported that enclosing pulse generators in a polyester pouch prevented migration and extrusion of the implanted device through the skin. BARD Vascular Systems manufactured the Parsonnet pouch, which was used in patients with little subcutaneous tissue. In 2008, TyRx Pharma (“TyRx”) introduced AIGSRX, a synthetic, permanent mesh envelope, which was intended to securely hold either a pacemaker pulse generator or defibrillator and provide a safe space for these implants to be acclimated by the body. To prevent infections associated with the implantation procedure, the non-resorbable mesh was coated with a bioabsorbable material, which dissolved over a period of seven to ten days, during which time the antibiotics rifampicin and minocycline were released. In 2013, TyRx replaced the original product with AIGISRXR, a comparable product with the same two intended uses, but totally bioresorbable. In 2014, Medtronic acquired TyRx and now sells this totally bioresorbable synthetic product under the name TYRX.
TYRX is a relatively stiff synthetic mesh with rough edges, which may require the surgeon to make a larger incision than is needed only to implant the electronic device. The larger incision can lead to longer surgery times and complications at the time of replacement or upgrade of the implantable device. Third-party studies have shown that the synthetic TYRX mesh is broken down and reabsorbed within approximately nine weeks. According to published literature, synthetic mesh, unlike biological mesh, is not associated with the biological signaling needed to mitigate the anticipated and well-documented foreign body response that results in the production of scar tissue to form a capsule surrounding an implantable device. TYRX’s primary benefit is to dispense antibiotics to reduce the rate of infection associated with device implantation.
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Our Solution
CanGaroo was designed to mitigate complications deriving from implantable electronic devices and the shortcomings of synthetic envelopes. We believe that CanGaroo is the only biological product that forms a natural, systemically vascularized pocket that conforms to and securely holds implantable electronic devices. CanGaroo is cleared for use with pacemaker pulse generators, defibrillators and other cardiac implantable electronic devices as well as vagus nerve stimulators, spinal cord neuromodulators, deep brain stimulators and sacral nerve stimulators.
The CanGaroo Envelope is constructed from perforated, multi-laminate sheets of decellularized, non-crosslinked, lyophilized SIS ECM, derived from porcine small intestinal submucosa, a natural biomaterial, which is rich in natural growth factors, structural proteins and collagens. The ECM is sewn into the shape of a pouch, into which the device is placed. We sell the biological envelope in a variety of sizes, which allows it to accommodate various sized electronic devices, and it has a shelf life of 30 months.
CanGaroo is soft and pliable and is designed to conform to the implantable device for easy handling and implantation. The SIS ECM is designed to mitigate the biologic foreign body response that normally occurs around the electronic device. CanGaroo is remodeled into a surrounding layer of vital, vascularized tissue, potentially reducing the risk of capsular formation, migration and erosion of the implantable device through the skin, and complications associated with Twiddler’s syndrome. CanGaroo may also facilitate the process of implantation and of device removal during its replacement, as well as enhance patient comfort.
Product
Description
Regulatory Pathway
CanGaroo Envelope
Naturally occurring ECM scaffold intended to hold securely implantable electronic devices, creating an environment designed to enhance patient comfort and reduce device migration
Medical Device
510(k)
Development Pipeline
We are currently developing a version of CanGaroo that combines the envelope with antibiotics and is designed to reduce the risk of infection following surgical implantation of an electronic device. As a first step, we recently completed a feasibility study that demonstrated the targeted release of antibiotics for CanGaroo. Based on feedback from the FDA, we believe that this product candidate will require clearance of a 510(k) submission to be marketed in the United States. In 2021, we completed both the product design and manufacturing validation for the CanGaroo with antibiotics. We anticipate submitting the required 510(k) by the end of the first quarter of 2022.
Commercial Approach
We sell CanGaroo in the United States using our direct sales force and our commercial partners, Boston Scientific and Biotronik, which act as sales agents and give us access to approximately 1,200 sales representatives and clinical specialists to further expand our footprint and accelerate our sales. Our primary customers are electrophysiologists, cardiac surgeons and neurosurgeons. Our direct sales force is focused on gaining additional market access and driving market penetration, not only by selling our products, but also, where appropriate, by managing our commercial partners and providing technical assistance for selling our products. Our sales team provides the critical knowledge of the advantages that CanGaroo provides for patients over those of our competitors. We ship the product directly to hospitals.
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Additional Cardiovascular Products
Through our direct sales force and independent sales agents, we also sell additional cardiovascular products derived from our specialized SIS ECM, all of which received 510(k) regulatory clearance as medical devices:
● ProxiCor is cleared for use as an intracardiac patch or pledget for tissue repair, i.e., atrial septal defect, ventricular septal defect and suture-line buttressing, as well as for the repair and reconstruction of the pericardium. ProxiCor enables cardiac and congenital heart surgeons to reestablish the essential native anatomical structures of the heart and pericardium by providing a natural bio-scaffold that allows the patient’s own cells to form a new pericardial layer. Typically, the absence of a pericardial barrier often leads to scarring and the formation of adhesions between the heart and sternum, impairing normal heart function. We believe that the use of ProxiCor for pericardial repair potentially avoids adverse events associated with the use of synthetic materials or highly processed biological materials, which can trigger an immune response, resulting in fibrotic or calcified scarring at the implant site.
● Tyke was developed based on a request by pediatric cardiovascular surgeons to deliver an ECM material that maintained the biomechanical properties found in our existing products, but was thinner, more pliable and better suited for intracardiac and branch pulmonary artery use in neonates and infants. Tyke is cleared for use in neonates and infants for the repair of pericardial structures; as an epicardial covering for damaged or repaired cardiac structures; and as a patch material for intracardiac defects, septal defect and annulus repair, suture-line buttressing and cardiac repair. We believe that Tyke is the only extra cellular material that has been specifically cleared for use in neonates and infants to repair pericardial structures.
● VasCure is cleared for use, and is used by, cardiovascular, vascular and general surgeons as, a patch material to repair or reconstruct the peripheral vasculature, including the carotid, renal, iliac, femoral and tibial blood vessels, by modeling into site-specific tissue and conforming to repair defects easily. VasCure is also cleared and is used for the closure of vessels, as a pledget, or for suture line buttressing when repairing vessels. It is designed to prevent and stop bleeding, resulting in minimal bleeding at suture lines. Unlike synthetic or cross-linked materials, VasCure approximates normal tissue and, we believe, is, therefore, less likely to provoke an immune response.
Orthopedic/Spinal Repair Market
Market Opportunity
According to industry sources, in the United States in 2019, there were an estimated 1.5 million surgical procedures for orthopedic and spinal repair, which, excluding the cost for spinal and orthopedic hardware, used bone repair products valued at more than $2 billion. The number of such surgeries has increased over the last several years, driven, in part, by a higher incidence of comorbidities and chronic inflammatory and degenerative conditions, including osteoarthritis.
Spinal fusion, the leading application for bone fusion surgeries in the United States, involves the use of grafting material to cause two vertebrae to grow together into one. In the United States in 2019, medical facilities performed 695,000 spinal fusion surgeries, of which approximately 400,000 were lumbar operations. Lower extremity applications, including ankle arthrodesis, or surgical immobilization of a joint by fusion of the adjacent bones, now represent a bone fusion market of approximately 165,000 fusions. With improving fixation methods, success rates have improved across these applications.
Limitations of Existing Solutions
Although success rates for orthopedic and spinal fusion have improved, inadequate bone healing remains one of the leading causes of failure for any fusion procedure. Fusion is especially challenging in patients who have underlying healing deficiencies because of such comorbidities as diabetes and obesity.
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The addition of a bone material to sites of fixation for repair of defects or for creating fusion acts synergistically with hardware devices to enhance and accelerate the achievement of boney union. Autologous bone, which is harvested from the patient, is considered the gold standard for bone fusions. However, obtaining sufficient autologous material may not always be possible, may not yield good quality material, may cause donor site morbidity and pain and has an additional cost associated with its harvest.
Bone morphogenetic protein-2 (“BMP-2”) is currently the only FDA-approved osteoinductive growth factor for use as a bone graft substitute. However, with increasing clinical use of BMP-2, a growing and well-documented side effect profile has emerged. This profile includes postoperative inflammation and associated adverse effects, bone formation in unusual locations, bone resorption and inappropriate formation of fat cells.
Human graft products, sourced from a different individual than the patient receiving the tissue, are called allografts. These allograft products are typically processed using techniques that damage the extracellular matrix and induce cellular apoptosis, which results in premature cellular death. This cellular death results in less cells, prevents osteogenic differentiation and impedes the activity of osteoblasts, cells which form new bone. Synthetic materials and damaged allogenic bone lack or have diminished osteogenic properties.
Our Solution
Our bone regenerative products are processed by a proprietary method designed to protect and preserve the native bone cells (osteogenic) needed for bone formation and to decelerate cell apoptosis. Our products, besides being osteogenic, are also osteoinductive (ability to recruit cells and to signal the need for bone formation) and osteoconductive (three-dimensional scaffold appropriate for bone formation). These products, which have handling properties that support their placement by the surgeon and their integration with the patient’s bone, are intended for use in patients mainly receiving orthopedic and spinal implants to enhance the bone repair process and include Fiber VBM, ViBone and OsteGro V, all of which are viable, cellular bone matrices.
Fiber VBM is a fiber-based bone repair product made from human tissue and engineered to be like natural tissue. It is marketed for use in orthopedic or reconstructive bone grafting procedures in combination with autologous bone or other forms of allograft bone or alone as a bone graft. Fiber VBM provides handling properties that are critical for use as a bone void filler in various orthopedic and spinal procedures. Fiber VBM contains cancellous bone particles with preserved living cells and demineralized cortical bone fibers to facilitate bone repair and healing.
ViBone is a particle-based bone repair product designed to perform and handle in a manner similar to an autograft and is marketed for use as allograft bone. ViBone contains cancellous and demineralized cortical bone particles.
OsteGro V, our newest product, leverages our proprietary process designed to protect and preserve native bone cells. OsteGro V is marketed for use for the repair, replacement or reconstruction of bone defects and contains cancellous bone particles as well as demineralized cortical bone particles and fibers designed to enhance product handling.
Product
Description
Regulatory Pathway
Fiber VBM, ViBone and OsteGro V
Allografts that perform and handle similarly to an autograft as a result of proprietary processing designed to protect the tissue environment and the cells
HCT/Ps
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Development Pipeline
We are currently developing new bone fusion and repair products that offer features that we believe are either an improvement to currently available technologies or offer new features or enhancements, such as improved delivery or handling properties. These products are currently in development, and we expect these products to be regulated by the FDA as HCT/Ps.
Commercial Approach
Our commercial approach to the orthopedic/spinal repair market has been to leverage commercial partners with existing sales and marketing infrastructure in these areas, while we focus on research and development and the manufacturing of products. We currently have an agreement with Surgalign Holdings for the sale of ViBone and ViBone Moldable and have agreements in place with many other commercial partners for the sale of Fiber VBM and OsteGro V, or such private label offering of each. Under the terms of those agreements, these commercial partners purchase products from us at specified prices and resell such products in the United States to the primary customers, which are hospitals and other healthcare facilities. We fulfill most orders from our commercial partners by shipping these products directly to these hospitals and other healthcare facilities.
Soft Tissue Reconstruction Market
Market Opportunity
According to certain third-party estimates, there were more than 100,000 procedures in the United States in 2019 using biologic matrices for plastic and reconstructive surgery, which constituted an approximately $500 million market. Such surgery is performed to treat structures of the human body that are affected aesthetically or functionally due to defects, abnormalities, trauma, infection, burns, tumors or disease. Plastic and reconstructive surgery is generally performed to improve function and ability, but it may also be performed to achieve a more natural appearance of the affected anatomical structure. Clinical practice of plastic and reconstructive surgery includes excision of tumors of the skin, vasculature, chest, oral and oropharyngeal cavities and extremities and reconstructions of the same; debridement, skin grafting and skin flaps for burn reconstructions; trauma surgery for the hands, upper and lower limbs and facial region; congenital or acquired malformations related to the hands, face, skull and jaw; surgical removal of vascular abnormalities; a range of aesthetic surgeries; and reconstructions of the breast, which is one of the most common applications of biologic matrices.
Limitations of Existing Solutions
Autologous tissue repair procedures are options for stabilizing soft tissue defects in various applications. However, these methods have limitations. The procedure may not be surgically feasible or the patient may decline its use. In addition, autologous tissue reconstruction may cause complications, such as infection, extended recovery and healing time, loss of sensation or weakness at the donor site and prolonged time under anesthesia during surgery.
Synthetic products provide a substitute when autologous reconstruction is not feasible or desired. Yet, they too have their limitations. Implantation of products not recognized by the body as “self” may trigger a foreign body reaction. The result of this signaling cascade is encapsulation of the foreign body in fibrotic tissue, which may impede tissue healing and cause pain or other complications. Other major issues are damage to the surrounding soft tissue, altering of the mechanical properties or appearance of the original tissue and increased risk of infection. Active infections are also typically a contraindication to using a synthetic graft.
HADM products offer an “off the shelf” biologic choice for reconstructive procedures, but they have their own limitations. The use of harsh chemicals to remove the cells can damage the extracellular matrix. The products can lack uniformity as determined by pliability in each direction, elasticity and non-uniform thickness. Such issues can affect how rapidly and the extent to which the implant is integrated, as well as the resulting tissue strength. In addition, there is a limited availability in larger sizes for some of these products.
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Our Solution
SimpliDerm was designed to offer improved biocompatibility and better functioning in the patient. It is marketed for use for the repair or replacement of damaged or insufficient integumental tissue or for the repair, reinforcement or supplemental support of soft tissue defects or any other homologous use of human integument. SimpliDerm is a pre-hydrated, HADM manufactured with our patented cell removal technology, a process that maintains the biological and structural integrity of the tissue’s extracellular matrix components and is designed to allow for rapid integration, cellular repopulation and revascularization at the surgical site. Its structurally intact extracellular matrix is designed to closely resemble that which occurs naturally.
Product
Description
Regulatory Pathway
SimpliDerm
Hydrated human acellular dermis designed to be used for repair or replacement of damaged or inadequate integumental tissue
HCT/Ps
Development Pipeline
One of the most common applications of biologic matrices in plastic and reconstructive surgery is breast reconstruction surgery during or after mastectomy. Mastectomy is a method of tumor removal for breast cancer in which all breast tissue, including the cancerous cells, is surgically removed. In the United States in 2019, there were more than 100,000 post-mastectomy breast reconstructions, of which approximately 68% were bilateral operations, that is, both breasts were reconstructed. Breast reconstruction surgery is a surgical procedure generally used to restore a breast to near normal shape and appearance, following a mastectomy, and can be performed using either a prosthetic breast implant, referred to as implant-based reconstruction, or the patient’s own tissue, referred to as autologous reconstruction. Additional reconstructive surgeries may be required following the initial breast reconstruction, including breast lift, also known as mastopexy, or breast revision surgery, in which the surgeon adjusts the position and shape of the breast.
In 2019, plastic surgeons used HADMs in approximately 66,000 women (approximately 109,000 breasts). The use of these materials is well-characterized in the clinical literature and recommended by recent U.S. and European consensus guidelines for certain surgical techniques. However, as of March 12, 2021, no biologic matrix or any other soft tissue reinforcement material, including our product, had been approved or cleared by the FDA specifically for use in breast reconstruction surgery.
Breast implants are generally placed below the pectoral muscle, known as subpectoral positioning. This approach has limitations, such as decreased arm strength, muscle spasms, animation deformities, implant movement and pain. Changes in mastectomy techniques, including the preservation of more sub-dermal tissue on skin flaps, as well as advances in fat grafting and the availability of acellular dermal matrix (“ADM”), for augmenting the tissue pocket have all created the opportunity to place the implant above the pectoral muscle, known as prepectoral positioning, and, in doing so, address complications arising from subpectoral placement. While the use of ADM is a key enabler for these prepectoral procedures, the sizes of ADMs required for these procedures may be three to four times the magnitude used for subpectoral reconstructions, exposing the patient to greater quantities of ADM and adding proportional additional expense to the procedure. Our goal is to develop SimpliDerm for these prepectoral procedures in larger size pieces with possibly reduced production costs. Given the market potential and if required by the FDA, we would evaluate the anticipated regulatory and investment requirements for a specific indication for prepectoral procedures.
Commercial Approach
SimpliDerm is sold through independent sales agents to plastic and reconstructive surgeons, and we ship this product directly to hospitals.
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Our Non-Core Products: Contract Manufacturing
We fulfill tissue processing contracts through our contract manufacturing services at our Richmond, California facility in order to utilize as much as possible of the starting human biological material from which we produce our core orthopedic/spinal repair and soft tissue reconstruction products, leverage our existing overhead and improve our cash flow. The resulting processed materials, including particulate bone, precision milled bone, cellular bone matrix, acellular dermis and other soft tissue products, are sold to medical/surgical companies as finished products and as a subcomponent of their products. Additionally, we process amniotic membrane as finished product for select customers and have multiple customers for most of our products. For the year ended December 31, 2021, our net sales from contract manufacturing was approximately $9.8 million, representing approximately 21% of our total net sales.
Clinical Data
We have accumulated a substantial body of clinical and pre-clinical data for our Core Products. We believe that the reported outcomes from our studies help to differentiate our Core Products in the marketplace.
Implantable Electronic Device
Pre-clinical Studies
In a pre-clinical rabbit model, the CanGaroo Envelope was more successful in providing a barrier surrounding a cardiovascular implantable electronic device (“CIED”) compared to a pacemaker canister alone. Substantial tissue ingrowth was observed in the CanGaroo Envelopes, which were observed to promote stabilization of the device when compared to implantation with only standard fixation methods, such as sutures through the CIED header or no fixation at all.
Clinical Studies
To evaluate our CanGaroo Envelope, we have conducted three post-market studies involving 1,577 patients. We are also conducting a retrospective study of approximately 100 patients and an additional 500-patient retrospective registry study.
SECURE Study
The SECURE Study was a prospective, single arm, observational, post-market study assessing patients who underwent the implantation of a CIED in a CanGaroo Envelope. The endpoints of the study were to determine: (a) the proportion of patients with CanGaroo-related adverse events and (b) the incidence of major infections observed in the pocket. A total of 1,026 patients were enrolled at 39 centers. The mean number of risk factors for CIED complications was 2.2 and the most common risk factors included congestive heart failure, obesity, device replacement/revision, diabetes and use of an oral systemic anticoagulant. There were 16 patients categorized as having had possible (n=14, 1.4%) and probable (n=2, 0.2%) CanGaroo-related events. Fourteen (1.4%) were in the former and two (0.2%) were in the latter category. The specific treatment-related adverse events included the following: one fever (0.1%); five hematomas (0.5%); one implantable cardiac device pocket erosion (0.1%); one pain (0.1%); four major pocket infections (0.4%); one superficial cellulitis (0.1%); and three superficial CIED infections (0.3%). In the total study population, twelve (1.2%) patients developed a major pocket infection. Even though migration was not an endpoint in the study, no such events were reported.
A total of 231 patients received CanGaroo Envelopes hydrated in an antibiotic solution containing gentamicin. The hydration solution was not recorded for nine patients enrolled in the study. The remaining 786 patients received a CanGaroo Envelope hydrated in saline alone or with another antibiotic. A post-hoc, subgroup analysis of the SECURE Study data prepared for the 2020 Heart Rhythm Society scientific sessions showed that after a mean follow-up time of 267 ± 180 days, the pocket infection rate was 0% in subjects with envelopes hydrated in a solution containing gentamicin (n = 73) and 0.6% in the subset of patients who received envelopes hydrated only with saline (n = 160).
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We believe these results provide evidence supporting the safety of the CanGaroo Envelope when used for the implantation of CIEDs in humans.
CARE Study
The CARE Study was a retrospective, consecutive case series, post market study. Data from 96 consecutive patients, who underwent simultaneous CIED and CanGaroo Envelope implantation at a single institution, were retrospectively reviewed for the occurrence of CIED-related complications and infection over a three-month follow-up period of time. All envelopes were hydrated using sterile saline prior to implantation. The most common risk factors among enrolled patients included systemic anticoagulants, obesity, diabetes, congestive heart failure and renal insufficiency.
After a mean follow-up time of 98 ± 64 days, five patients (5.2%) developed a hematoma requiring intervention, and one patient (1.1%) developed a pocket infection. None of these events were deemed to be related to the CanGaroo Envelope.
The low rates of CanGaroo Envelope complications observed in the CARE Study support the safety of the product when used in a human CIED implantation.
CARE Plus Study
The CARE Plus Study was a single-center, post-market, retrospective cohort study of the outcomes in patients who received a CanGaroo Envelope, Medtronic’s synthetic TYRX envelope or no envelope during their CIED implantation. Planned assessments will evaluate adverse patient outcomes and any adverse events that occurred following implantation.
An interim analysis was published as an abstract in Circulation and presented at the American Heart Association (AHA) 2021 Conference which compared the patient risk profiles and outcomes of 248 patients from the CARE Plus study who received either no envelope (n=57), a CanGaroo (biologic) Envelope (n=89) hydrated in antibiotics, or a TYRX (non-biologic) Envelope (n=102) during their CIED implantation procedure as of a cutoff date of December 31, 2020. As of the cutoff date, patients who received antibacterial envelopes (biologic or non-biologic) were younger (p=0.017), received higher power devices more often (37.2% vs. 15.8%, p=0.004), were undergoing more reoperative procedures (47.1% vs. 0.0%, p<0.001), and had more infection risk factors (81.2% vs. 49.1%, p<0.001) than patients who received no envelope with their CIED procedure. Biologic envelopes tended to be used at a greater frequency in higher infection risk patients (84.3% vs. 78.4%) and more reoperative procedures (62.2% vs. 37.8%) than non-biologic envelopes. Total CIED implant site infection rates were low (0.4%, in accordance with the WRAP-IT study reported rate of 0.7%) with no difference between the higher infection risk envelope group and lower infection risk no envelope group (envelope 0.5% vs. no envelope 0%, p=0.584). There was also no discernable difference in infection rates between biologic and non-biologic antibacterial envelopes. No significant difference between the envelope and no envelope groups were seen in hematomas (p=0.176), or the incidence of other adverse events such as lead dislodgement/revision, pocket revision, device migration or erosion, Twiddler’s Syndrome, erythema/fever, or site drainage (p=0.722).
HEAL Study
The HEAL Study is an ongoing retrospective cohort study of approximately 100 CIED patients who are presenting for their latest reoperation after a previous implantation that is designed to identify and compare the characteristics of soft tissue healing surrounding cardiovascular implantable electronic device implants, including those used with a CanGaroo Envelope. We enrolled our first patient in this study in February 2021. Patients evaluated in the study will be from one of three cohorts based on whether a CanGaroo Envelope, Medtronic’s synthetic TYRX Envelope or no envelope was used during the prior implantation. At reoperation, the current implant pockets of the patients will be examined and compared by a blinded histological biopsy and visually by using photographs.
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CanGaroo Registry Study
The CanGaroo Registry Study is a prospective, multi-center registry of up to 500 participants. The objective is to explore the participant clinical profiles, procedural details, and post-implant outcomes of participants who receive the CanGaroo Envelope or no envelope at time of initial ( de novo ) implantation. We enrolled our first patient in this study in June 2021 and have enrolled approximately 250 patients as of February 25, 2022. Patients aged 65 years or younger at time of enrollment have the option to participate in an extended follow-up period for up to five years.
Orthopedic/Spinal Repair
Pre-clinical Studies
In vitro and in vivo characterization studies were conducted to compare whether the manufacturing processes for our viable bone matrices improve certain product characteristics versus traditional viable bone matrix manufacturing processes. The characteristics evaluated addressed the three key elements for bone formation: osteogenesis, osteoconduction and osteoinduction. The assays included those for apoptosis, cell proliferation, osteogenic potential and osteoinduction, as well as for specific bone morphogenic proteins, bone formation factors, alkaline phosphatase and chemotaxis. Compared to viable bone matrices prepared with traditional processing methods, our viable bone matrices were superior in all of the characteristics examined, including less cell death. For example, ViBone exhibited 58% less apoptosis and had a 2.1-fold greater cell proliferation capability as compared to allografts processed by traditional methods. The cells from ViBone produced increased levels of the bone forming protein markers osteocalcin (20%), osteopontin (50%) and collagen type 1 (40%), when incubated in osteogenic cell culture media, compared to traditionally processed allografts, suggesting greater osteogenic potential. ViBone was tested for osteoinductive properties and was observed to have 9.1-fold higher levels of bone morphogenic protein 2 and 3.8-fold higher levels of bone morphogenic protein 7 than traditionally processed allografts. Additional growth factor testing for ViBone demonstrated higher amounts of transforming growth factor beta 1 (10.8-fold); insulin-like growth factor 1 (9.5-fold); and basic fibroblast growth factor (4.1-fold). An alkaline phosphatase (“ALP”) assay was used as an indicator to determine cellular activity after exposure to C2C12 cells, which are model cells used for evaluating differentiation to bone forming cells. The ALP activity of cells exposed to ViBone was 6.1-fold greater than traditionally processed allografts. Also, there was a 1.9-fold increase in chemotaxis, or stem cell migration, toward ViBone as compared to traditionally processed allografts, supporting ViBone’s enhanced osteoinductive properties. In order to evaluate the osteoinductivity in vivo, ViBone was implanted in athymic rats. At 28 days, new bone formation was observed.
Clinical Studies
A prospective, multi-center, post-market clinical study was conducted to evaluate outcomes in patients undergoing cervical or lumbar interbody fusion surgery using ViBone. One hundred eighteen patients were enrolled in the cervical and lumbar groups and followed for 12 months post-procedure.
Soft Tissue Reconstruction
Pre-clinical Studies
In vitro studies were conducted to evaluate and compare SimpliDerm to native human dermis and two other commercially available HADMs, in terms of morphological structure, composition, physical characteristics and chemical and thermal stability. Histological slides of SimpliDerm and native dermal matrix were prepared for microscopic examination, using hematoxylin and eosin (“H&E”), Verhoff-Van Gieson (“VVG”), and collagen type IV stains. Stained samples of SimpliDerm retained the collagen structure (density and orientation), elastin, blood vessels and basement membrane complex that was observed in the native dermal matrix. Transmission electron microscopy demonstrated intact collagen fibril structures in native dermis and SimpliDerm, supporting the conclusion that the decellularization process used to produce SimpliDerm did not damage the ultrastructural architecture of the collagen matrix.
Additional testing was performed that compared the properties of SimpliDerm, AlloDerm RTU and DermACELL to native Dermis. These tests included Glycosaminoglycan content, matrix protein stability and differential scanning
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calorimetry. The glycosaminoglycan content of SimpliDerm and Alloderm RTU was similar, with a substantial reduction in the amount of glycosaminoglycans observed in DermACELL. Matrix protein stability was evaluated by determining acid-soluble collagen content and by performing collagenase degradation on the product samples. SimpliDerm was closest to native dermal matrix in both acid-soluble collagen content and collagenase degradation. Differential scanning calorimetry was performed on the samples, and SimpliDerm and AlloDerm RTU were equivalently close to native dermis, while DermACELL showed the largest difference. The combined testing indicates that SimpliDerm had a structurally intact matrix that was closest overall to native human dermis among the HADMs evaluated.
In addition, a non-human primate study was conducted evaluating the ability of SimpliDerm and AlloDerm RTU to regenerate host tissue two weeks, four weeks and three months after implantation. Explanted samples were subjected to analysis that included histology, growth factor analysis and gene expression characterization. H&E and VVG stains and staining for macrosialin (“CD68”) were used to prepare tissue samples for microscopic observation. AlloDerm RTU samples demonstrated faster implant degradation and cell infiltration, and more inflammatory cells than SimpliDerm. Growth factor analysis of samples for tumor necrosis factor, an indicator for an inflammatory environment, was higher for AlloDerm RTU than SimpliDerm at three months. Gene expression analysis was performed for samples at all time points. Markers for evidence of an inflammatory response to the implants, including collagen synthesis, vascularization, fibrosis, myofibroblast presence and collagen crosslinking, were analyzed and compared. AlloDerm RTU was found to exhibit higher amounts of these inflammatory response markers. The histology, growth factor testing and gene expression data support the conclusion that compared to AlloDerm RTU, SimpliDerm showed less acute and chronic inflammation and less fibrosis, leading to a pro-remodeling microenvironment that promoted tissue repair and regeneration by three months post-implantation.
Clinical Studies
Currently, we are collecting clinical data in an Investigational Review Board (“IRB”) approved, retrospective, multi-center study evaluating patients who have undergone breast reconstruction post-mastectomy with SimpliDerm and patients receiving other HADMs. These data will inform us as to the design of future clinical feasibility and pivotal studies to support potential regulatory applications for a breast reconstruction indication for SimpliDerm.
An interim analysis of 59 patients (108 breasts) was published which reported initial 30-day follow up data on patients who received either SimpliDerm or AlloDerm RTU acellular dermal matrices (ADMs) during their immediate 2-stage breast reconstruction following mastectomy as of October 31, 2020. Reconstructions were primarily prepectoral (95.4%), used tissue expanders (100%), and followed a skin sparing approach to mastectomy (64%). Procedural technique and postprocedural follow up did not differ between groups. There were no significant differences between ADM groups in patient demographics, medical history, operative procedure, or clinical outcomes. The collective adverse event rate (22%) aligned with previous ADM literature, did not differ between the groups in this dataset, and none of the AEs in this dataset were considered serious. The interim results from this study suggested comparable initial clinical outcomes with SimpliDerm and AlloDerm RTU after immediate 2-stage breast reconstruction.
A subsequent analysis was performed of patients from four sites as of July 2021 who underwent immediate, 2-stage reconstruction with either SimpliDerm (n=38) or AlloDerm RTU (n=69) after mastectomy and were followed out to exchange to permanent implant(s), tissue expander(s) explant, or death. Immediate breast reconstruction with tissue expanders and ADM was performed on 107 patients (181 breasts). Overall mean patient age was 51.4 ± 12.4 years, and mean Body Mass Index was 28.0 ± 5.8 kg/m2. Significantly more patients in the SimpliDerm group were of Hispanic or Latino ethnicity (34.2% vs. 7.2%; P<.001). Reconstructions were predominantly prepectoral (82.3%). A total of 35 adverse events (AEs) occurred in 27 (25.2%) patients, with no difference in AE type, classification, or rates between ADM groups. No AEs were considered related to either ADM. The observed AE profiles and rates are similar to those published for other ADMs in immediate breast reconstruction. These results demonstrate comparable clinical outcomes with SimpliDerm and AlloDerm RTU through a median of 133.5 days (~four months) following immediate 2-stage breast reconstruction.
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Competition
We operate in highly competitive markets that are subject to rapid technological change. Success in these markets depends primarily on product efficacy, ease of product use, product price, availability of payor coverage and adequate third-party reimbursement, customer support services for technical, clinical and reimbursement support and customer preference for, and loyalty to, the products.
We believe that the demonstrated clinical efficacy of our products, the breadth of our product portfolio, our in-house customer support services, our customer relationships and our reputation offer us advantages over our competitors.
Our Core Products compete primarily with implantable electronic device envelopes and other cardiovascular repair products, other orthobiologics and human-derived acellular dermis products. The CanGaroo Envelope competes with the synthetic envelope TYRX from Medtronic. ProxiCor, Tyke and VasCure compete with bovine pericardium produced by numerous companies, including Gore’s Goretex and Terumo’s Vascutek. Fiber VBM, ViBone and OsteGro V compete with other viable bone matrices, such as Smith & Nephew’s Bio4, MTF’s Trinity ELITE, NuVasive’s OsteoCel, Vivex Biologics’ VIA Graft and LifeNet Health’s ViviGen. SimpliDerm competes primarily against human-derived acellular dermis matrix meshes, including AbbVie’s AlloDerm, Stryker’s DermACELL and MTF’s FlexHD. SimpliDerm also competes against animal-derived biological mesh products, such as AbbVie’s Strattice and Integra’s SurgiMend, as well as various synthetic mesh products.
We also compete in the marketplace to recruit and retain qualified scientific, management and sales personnel, as well as to acquire technologies and technology licenses complementary to our products or advantageous to our business.
Our competitors’ products in the soft tissue repair market have been approved and available for use for multiple years. During this time, private payors have developed policies for coverage based on available data and literature. Third-party payors generally do not currently cover SimpliDerm or procedures using SimpliDerm.
We are aware of several companies that compete, or are developing technologies, in our current and future product areas. As a result, we expect competition to remain intense. Our ability to compete successfully will depend primarily on our ability to develop proprietary products that reach the market in a timely manner, are used in procedures that receive adequate payor coverage and reimbursement, are cost-effective, and are safe and effective, as well as our reputation in the market and success of our sales strategy. See Part I, Item 1A. “Risk Factors - Risks Related to Our Business - We face significant and continuing competition from other companies, some of which have longer operating histories, more established products and/or greater resources than we do, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.”
Sales and Marketing
We have dedicated substantial resources to establishing a multi-faceted sales and marketing organization in the United States. We sell CanGaroo in the United States using our direct sales force and our commercial partners, Boston Scientific and Biotronik, which act as sales agents, marketing CanGaroo and obtaining orders, and give us access to approximately 1,200 sales representatives and clinical specialists to further expand our footprint and accelerate our sales. Under the terms of these agreements, Boston Scientific and Biotronik receive a commission equal to a specified dollar amount per unit sold. Our additional cardiovascular products, ProxiCor, Tyke and VasCure, are sold using our direct sales force and other independent sales agents. Our commercial approach to the orthopedic/spinal repair market has been to leverage commercial partners with existing sales and marketing infrastructure in these areas, while we focus on research and development and the manufacturing of products. We currently have an agreement with Surgalign Holdings for the sale of ViBone and ViBone Moldable and have agreements in place with many other commercial partners for the sale of Fiber VBM and OsteGro V, or such private label offering of each. Under the terms of those agreements, these commercial partners purchase products from us at specified prices and resell such products in the United States to the primary customers, which are hospitals and other healthcare facilities. We fulfill most orders from our commercial partners by shipping these products directly to these hospitals and other healthcare facilities. SimpliDerm, our soft tissue reconstruction product, is sold using independent sales agents. As of December 31, 2021, we had 31 direct sales representatives who focus on gaining additional market access and driving market penetration, not only by selling our products, but also, where
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appropriate, by managing our commercial partners and providing technical assistance for selling our products. These sales representatives are supported by teams of professionals focused on sales management, sales operations, ongoing training, analytics and marketing.
We have historically focused our market development and commercial activities primarily in the United States. However, we have obtained marketing registrations, developed commercial and distribution capabilities and are currently selling CanGaroo and cardiovascular products in several countries outside of the United States. Independent sales agents in Argentina, Australia, the European Economic Area, the European Union, Latin America, Kuwait, Mexico and Saudi Arabia sell our products. Sales generated in the United States represented greater than 95% of our net sales in 2021.
Research and Development
Our research and development team has extensive experience in developing regenerative medicine products and works to design products that are intended to improve patient outcomes, simplify techniques, shorten procedures, reduce hospitalization and rehabilitation times, and, as a result, reduce costs. We have recruited and retained staff with significant experience and skills, gained through both industry experience and training at leading colleges and universities with regenerative medicine graduate programs. In addition to our internal staff, our external network of development laboratories, testing laboratories and physicians aids us in our research and development process.
Manufacturing and Suppliers
We manufacture our orthopedic/spinal repair and soft tissue reconstruction products in our Richmond, California facility. We manufacture CanGaroo and our cardiovascular products in our Roswell, Georgia facility and use Cook Biotech as our sole porcine tissue supplier for these products. We have significant expansion capabilities in our in-house manufacturing facilities. Cook Biotech has previously successfully expanded and, we believe, is well-positioned to support future expansion. However, they are our sole source, and we cannot guarantee that an interruption in supply will not occur. If necessary, we could engage an alternate supplier or set-up, validate and gain regulatory authorization to manufacture these products in our own facilities, although it would require significant time, expense and regulatory clearance.
We have robust internal compliance processes to maintain the high quality and reliability of our products. We use annual internal audits, combined with external audits by regulatory agencies and commercial partners to monitor our quality control practices. Our Roswell, Georgia and Richmond, California facilities are registered with the FDA as medical device and human cell and tissue manufacturing establishments, respectively. We are also accredited by the American Association of Tissue Banks (“AATB”) and are licensed with several states per their tissue bank regulations.
We use third-party suppliers to support our internal manufacturing processes. We select our suppliers through a rigorous process to ensure high quality and reliability with the capacity to support our expanding production levels. Only raw material from approved suppliers is used in the manufacture of our products. To confirm quality and identify any risks, our approved suppliers are audited annually. To date, we have not experienced any significant difficulty locating and obtaining the suppliers or materials necessary to fulfill our production requirements.
Manufacture of all of our products is dependent on the availability of sufficient quantities of source tissue, which is the primary component of our products. Source tissue includes donated human tissue and porcine tissue. We acquire donated human tissue directly through tissue procurement firms engaged by us. Cook Biotech, our sole porcine tissue supplier, is registered with the FDA and ISO 13485 certified. Our processing of these tissues is, and our supplier sources are required to be, compliant with applicable FDA current Good Tissue Practice (“cGTP”) regulations, AATB standards, international standards and U.S. Department of Agriculture (“USDA”) requirements.
Intellectual Property
We rely on a combination of patents, trademarks, confidentiality agreements and security procedures to protect our proprietary products, preservation technology, trade secrets and know-how. We believe that our patents, trade secrets, trademarks and technology licensing rights provide us with important competitive advantages. We have also obtained additional rights through license agreements for additional products and technologies. As of December 31, 2021, we owned
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approximately 15 U.S. patents, six U.S. patent applications, three foreign patents (in Australia, Europe, and Hong Kong), and four foreign patent applications (in Thailand and India, as well as applications with the World Intellectual Property Organization); and we in-licensed four U.S. patents, five foreign patents (in Australia, Canada, Japan, and Europe), and two U.S. and two foreign patent applications (in China, as well as an application with the European Patent Office). Our owned patent portfolio includes 14 U.S. patents and three U.S. patent applications that relate to our technology for CanGaroo, including issued claims covering biological envelopes and pending claims covering their use. In addition, we own one patent that relates to our technology for SimpliDerm that claims a method of preparing an acellular dermal matrix. Excluding any patent term adjustment or patent term extension, our issued patents relating to our technology for CanGaroo are anticipated to expire starting in 2027, and our issued patent that relates to our technology for SimpliDerm is anticipated to expire in 2033. There can be no assurance that any pending patent applications will ultimately be issued as patents. We do not own or in-license any patents or patent applications covering our other products.
As with other medical device and regenerative medicine companies, our ability to maintain and solidify our proprietary and intellectual property position for our product candidates will depend on our success in obtaining effective patent claims and maintaining and enforcing claims that are granted. However, our owned and licensed patents could be invalidated or narrowed or otherwise fail to adequately protect our proprietary and intellectual property position and our pending owned and licensed patent applications, and any patent applications that we may in the future file or license from third parties may not result in the issuance of patents.
In addition, the term of individual issued patents depends upon the legal term for patents in the countries in which they are obtained. In most countries in which we have filed, including the United States, the patent term is 20 years from the earliest filing date of a non-provisional patent application. The life of a patent, and the protection it affords, is therefore limited and once the patent lives of our issued patents have expired, we may face competition, including from other competing technologies. The term of a patent that covers a drug or biological product may also be eligible for patent term extension when FDA approval is granted for a portion of the term effectively lost as a result of the FDA regulatory review period, subject to certain limitations and provided statutory and regulatory requirements are met. Any such patent term extension can be for no more than five years, only one patent per approved product can be extended, the extension cannot extend the total patent term beyond 14 years from approval, and only those claims covering the approved drug or biological product, a method for using it or a method for manufacturing it may be extended. We may not receive an extension if we fail to exercise due diligence during the testing phase or regulatory review process, fail to apply within applicable deadlines, fail to apply prior to expiration of relevant patents or otherwise fail to satisfy applicable requirements. Moreover, the length of the extension could be less than we request. In the future, we expect to apply for patent term extensions on certain issued patents covering our products, depending upon the length of the clinical studies for each product and other factors. There can be no assurance that we will benefit from any patent term extension or favorable adjustment to the term of any of our patents. As a result, our owned and licensed patent portfolio may not provide us with sufficient rights to exclude others from commercializing products similar or identical to ours. For more information, see Part I, Item IA. “Risk Factors - Risks Related to Intellectual Property.”
As of December 31, 2021, we had 17 registered trademarks and one pending trademark application worldwide, including trademark registrations for “Aziyo,” “CanGaroo,” “ProxiCor,” “Tyke,” “VasCure,” “ViBone,” “OsteGro” and “SimpliDerm” in the United States, and trademark registrations for CanGaroo in the European Union, United Kingdom and Japan.
We have confidentiality agreements with our employees, consultants, independent sales agents and third-party vendors to maintain the confidentiality of our trade secrets and proprietary information. There can be no assurance that the obligations of our employees, consultants, independent sales agents and third-parties, with whom we have entered into confidentiality agreements, will effectively prevent disclosure of our confidential information or provide meaningful protection for our confidential information if there is unauthorized use or disclosure, or that our trade secrets or proprietary information will not be independently developed by our competitors. See Part I, Item IA. “Risk Factors - Risks Related to Intellectual Property” for additional information regarding these and other risks related to our intellectual property portfolio and their potential effect on us.
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License Agreement with Cook Biotech
On May 31, 2017, we entered into a license agreement, which we refer to as the Cook License Agreement, with Cook Biotech Incorporated (“Cook Biotech”) under which Cook Biotech granted to us an exclusive worldwide sublicensable license under certain licensed patents to make, have made, use, offer for sale, sell and import CorMatrix ECM for Pericardial Closure, CorMatrix ECM for Cardiac Tissue Repair, CorMatrix ECM for Carotid Repair, CorMatrix ECM for Vascular Repair, TYKE Patch, Pledget and Intracardiac, and CanGaroo ECM Envelope (into which implantable cardiac pacemaker or defibrillator devices are to be inserted). Cook Biotech retained certain co-exclusive rights to the CorMatrix ECM for Vascular Repair. The Cook License Agreement was amended on December 21, 2017 to expand our field of use for SIS pouch devices to include other implantable electronic cardiac stimulation devices, electronic neurostimulation devices for deep brain stimulation, spinal nerve and sacral nerve stimulation to relieve chronic pain and nerve stimulation to control bladder, digestive, abdomen and bowel movements, and also add additional payment requirements.
Under the Cook License Agreement, we agree to use commercially reasonable efforts to promote, solicit and expand the licensed products in certain fields of use. We are subject to a minimum purchase requirement for the SIS ECM for the fields of use added in connection with the December 21, 2017 amendment, or the Subfields, and certain diligence obligations for commercial sales in the Subfields. The license requires that we order and pay for a minimum of at least $500,000 of SIS ECM per calendar year for use in the Subfields. Cook Biotech has the right to terminate the license granted to us in the Subfields or convert such license to a non-exclusive license, if we fail to comply with such minimum purchase requirement or diligence obligations. We have the first right, but not the obligation to initiate legal proceedings against any patent infringement in our fields of use by a third-party product that is the same as one of the licensed products.
Under the Cook License Agreement and SIS Material Supply Agreement, Cook Biotech is the exclusive supplier of the SIS ECM used in the licensed products. Under certain circumstances we will have the right to manufacture the SIS ECM used in the licensed products, provided that in such cases we are required to pay Cook Biotech a low single digit royalty on net sales of the licensed products that include the SIS ECM material manufactured by us and that are covered by a valid enforceable claim of a licensed patent.
As consideration for the license, we paid Cook Biotech a $200,000 license fee in 2018 and a $100,000 license fee in years 2019 through 2021, and are responsible for a yearly license fee of $100,000 until 2026. Upon a change in control transaction, which includes an acquisition of 50% or more of our then outstanding capital stock, we will be responsible to pay Cook Biotech the total amount of all license fees that have not yet been paid within a specified period after the consummation of such change in control transaction.
The Cook License Agreement continues in effect until the date of expiration of the last to expire of the licensed patents, including any renewals or extensions. The expiration date for the last to expire of the licensed patents is currently expected to be 2031 (excluding any patent term adjustments or extensions). Either party may terminate the Cook License Agreement for any material breach by the other party uncured within a specified period. In addition, the Cook License Agreement terminates automatically if we no longer possess the rights to the licensed products sold by CorMatrix related to our acquisition of all of the commercial assets and related intellectual property of CorMatrix Cardiovascular, Inc. in 2017 (the “CorMatrix Acquisition”). Cook Biotech has the right to terminate the Cook License Agreement in its entirety, or convert the exclusive license of any field of use to a non-exclusive license if we fail to make any license fee when due.
Regulatory Matters
Government Regulation
Our products and our operations are subject to extensive regulation by the FDA and other federal and state authorities in the United States, as well as comparable authorities in any foreign jurisdictions in which we market our products. In the United States, our products are subject to regulation as medical devices under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (the “FDCA”) or as biological products or HCT/Ps under the Public Health Service Act (the “PHSA”), each as implemented and enforced by the FDA. The FDA and other United States and foreign governmental agencies regulate, among other things, the development, design, nonclinical and clinical research, manufacturing, safety, efficacy, labeling,
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packaging, storage, installation, servicing, recordkeeping, premarket clearance or approval, import, export, adverse event reporting, advertising, promotion, marketing and distribution, and import and export of medical devices and biological products to ensure that such products distributed domestically are safe and effective for their intended uses and otherwise meet the requirements of the FDCA or PHSA.
FDA Premarket Clearance and Approval Requirements
Unless an exemption applies, each medical device commercially distributed in the United States requires either FDA clearance of a 510(k) premarket notification, or approval of a premarket approval (“PMA”) application. Under the FDCA, medical devices are classified into one of three classes - Class I, Class II or Class III - depending on the degree of risk associated with each medical device and the extent of manufacturer and regulatory control needed to ensure its safety and effectiveness. Class I includes devices with the lowest risk to the patient and are those for which safety and effectiveness can be assured by adherence to the FDA’s General Controls for medical devices, which include compliance with the applicable portions of the Quality System Regulation (the “QSR”) facility registration and product listing, reporting of adverse medical events, and truthful and non-misleading labeling, advertising, and promotional materials. Class II devices are subject to the FDA’s General Controls, and special controls as deemed necessary by the FDA to ensure the safety and effectiveness of the device. These special controls can include performance standards, post-market surveillance, patient registries and FDA guidance documents.
While most Class I devices are exempt from the 510(k) premarket notification requirement, manufacturers of most Class II devices are required to submit to the FDA a premarket notification under Section 510(k) of the FDCA requesting permission to commercially distribute the device. The FDA’s permission to commercially distribute a device subject to a 510(k) premarket notification is generally known as 510(k) clearance. Devices deemed by the FDA to pose the greatest risks, such as life sustaining, life supporting or some implantable devices, or devices that have a new intended use, or use advanced technology that is not substantially equivalent to that of a legally marketed device, are placed in Class III, requiring approval of a PMA. Some pre-amendment devices are unclassified, but are subject to FDA’s premarket notification and clearance process in order to be commercially distributed.
510(k) Clearance Marketing Pathway
Certain of our ECM products are subject to premarket notification and clearance under section 510(k) of the FDCA. To obtain 510(k) clearance, a product sponsor must submit to the FDA a premarket notification submission demonstrating that the proposed device is “substantially equivalent” to a predicate device already on the market. A predicate device is a legally marketed device that is not subject to premarket approval, i.e., a device that was legally marketed prior to May 28, 1976 and for which a PMA is not required, a device that has been reclassified from Class III to Class II or I, or a device that was found substantially equivalent through the 510(k) process. The FDA’s 510(k) clearance process usually takes from three to twelve months, but often takes longer. The FDA may require additional information, including clinical data, to make a determination regarding substantial equivalence. In addition, FDA collects user fees for certain medical device submissions and annual fees and for medical device establishments. If the FDA agrees that the device is substantially equivalent to a predicate device currently on the market, it will grant 510(k) clearance to commercially market the device. If the FDA determines that the device is “not substantially equivalent” to a previously cleared device, the device is automatically designated as a Class III device. The device sponsor must then fulfill more rigorous PMA requirements, or can request a risk-based classification determination for the device in accordance with the “ de novo ” process, which is a route to market for novel medical devices that are low to moderate risk and are not substantially equivalent to a predicate device.
After a device receives 510(k) marketing clearance, any modification that could significantly affect its safety or effectiveness, or that would constitute a major change or modification in its intended use, will require a new 510(k) clearance or, depending on the modification, PMA approval or de novo reclassification. The FDA requires each manufacturer to determine whether the proposed change requires submission of a 510(k), de novo request or a PMA in the first instance, but the FDA can review any such decision and disagree with a manufacturer’s determination. If the FDA disagrees with a manufacturer’s determination, the FDA can require the manufacturer to cease marketing and/or request the recall of the modified device until 510(k) marketing clearance or until PMA approval is obtained or a de novo request is granted. Also, in these circumstances, the manufacturer may be subject to significant regulatory fines or penalties.
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Over the last several years, the FDA has proposed reforms to its 510(k) clearance process, and such proposals could include increased requirements for clinical data and a longer review period, or could make it more difficult for manufacturers to utilize the 510(k) clearance process for their products. For example, in November 2018, FDA officials announced steps that the FDA intended to take to modernize the premarket notification pathway under Section 510(k) of the FDCA. Among other things, the FDA announced that it planned to develop proposals to drive manufacturers utilizing the 510(k) pathway toward the use of newer predicates. These proposals included plans to potentially sunset certain older devices that were used as predicates under the 510(k) clearance pathway, and to potentially publish a list of devices that have been cleared on the basis of demonstrated substantial equivalence to predicate devices that are more than 10 years old. These proposals have not yet been finalized or adopted, and the FDA may work with Congress to implement such proposals through legislation.
More recently, in September 2019, the FDA issued revised guidance describing an optional “safety and performance based” premarket review pathway for manufacturers of “certain, well-understood device types” to demonstrate substantial equivalence under the 510(k) clearance pathway by showing that such device meets objective safety and performance criteria established by the FDA, thereby obviating the need for manufacturers to compare the safety and performance of their medical devices to specific predicate devices in the clearance process. The FDA continues to develop and maintain a list of device types appropriate for the “safety and performance based” pathway and to develop product-specific guidance documents that identify the performance criteria and recommended testing methods for each such device type.
PMA Approval Pathway
Class III devices require PMA approval before they can be marketed, although some pre-amendment Class III devices for which FDA has not yet required a PMA are cleared through the 510(k) process. The PMA process is more demanding than the 510(k) premarket notification process. In a PMA, the manufacturer must demonstrate that the device is safe and effective, and the PMA must be supported by extensive data, including data from pre-clinical studies and human clinical studies. The PMA must also contain a full description of the device and its components, a full description of the methods, facilities, and controls used for manufacturing, and proposed labeling. Following receipt of a PMA, the FDA determines whether the application is sufficiently complete to permit a substantive review. If FDA accepts the application for review, it has 180 days under the FDCA to complete its review of a PMA, although in practice, the FDA’s review often takes significantly longer, and can take up to several years. An advisory panel of experts from outside the FDA may be convened to review and evaluate the application and provide recommendations to the FDA as to the approvability of the device. The FDA may or may not accept the panel’s recommendation. In addition, the FDA will generally conduct a pre-approval inspection of the applicant or its third-party manufacturers’ or suppliers’ manufacturing facility or facilities to ensure compliance with the QSR.
The FDA will approve the new device for commercial distribution if it determines that the data and information in the PMA constitute valid scientific evidence and that there is reasonable assurance that the device is safe and effective for its intended use(s). The FDA may approve a PMA with post-approval conditions intended to ensure the safety and effectiveness of the device, including, among other things, restrictions on labeling, promotion, sale and distribution, and collection of long-term follow-up data from patients in the clinical study that supported PMA approval or requirements to conduct additional clinical studies post-approval. The FDA may condition PMA approval on some form of post-market surveillance when deemed necessary to protect the public health or to provide additional safety and efficacy data for the device in a larger population or for a longer period of use. In such cases, the manufacturer might be required to follow certain patient groups for a number of years and to make periodic reports to the FDA on the clinical status of those patients. Failure to comply with the conditions of approval can result in material adverse enforcement action, including withdrawal of the approval.
Certain changes to an approved device, such as changes in manufacturing facilities, methods, or quality control procedures, or changes in the design performance specifications, which affect the safety or effectiveness of the device, require submission of a PMA supplement. PMA supplements often require submission of the same type of information as a PMA, except that the supplement is limited to information needed to support any changes from the device covered by the original PMA and may not require as extensive clinical data or the convening of an advisory panel. Certain other changes to an approved device require the submission of a new PMA, such as when the design change causes a different
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intended use, mode of operation, and technical basis of operation, or when the design change is so significant that a new generation of the device will be developed, and the data that were submitted with the original PMA are not applicable for the change in demonstrating a reasonable assurance of safety and effectiveness.
None of our products are currently marketed pursuant to a PMA, though we may decide to seek a PMA for our SimpliDerm product for use in breast reconstruction indications.
Clinical Studies
Clinical studies are almost always required to support a PMA and are sometimes required to support a 510(k) submission. All clinical investigations in the United States of devices to determine safety and effectiveness must be conducted in accordance with the FDA’s investigational device exemption (IDE) regulations which govern investigational device labeling, prohibit promotion of the investigational device, and specify an array of recordkeeping, reporting and monitoring responsibilities of study sponsors and study investigators. If the device presents a “significant risk,” to human health, as defined by the FDA, the FDA requires the device sponsor to submit an IDE application to the FDA, which must become effective prior to commencing human clinical studies. If the device under evaluation does not present a significant risk to human health, then the device sponsor is not required to submit an IDE application to the FDA before initiating human clinical studies, but must still comply with abbreviated IDE requirements when conducting such studies. A significant risk device is one that presents a potential for serious risk to the health, safety or welfare of a patient and either is implanted, used in supporting or sustaining human life, substantially important in diagnosing, curing, mitigating or treating disease or otherwise preventing impairment of human health, or otherwise presents a potential for serious risk to a subject. An IDE application must be supported by appropriate data, such as animal and laboratory test results, showing that it is safe to test the device in humans and that the testing protocol is scientifically sound. The IDE will automatically become effective 30 days after receipt by the FDA unless the FDA notifies the company that the investigation may not begin. If the FDA determines that there are deficiencies or other concerns with an IDE for which it requires modification, the FDA may permit a clinical study to proceed under a conditional approval.
Regardless of the degree of risk presented by the medical device, clinical studies must be approved by, and conducted under the oversight of, an IRB for each clinical site. The IRB is responsible for the initial and continuing review of the IDE, and may pose additional requirements for the conduct of the study. If an IDE application is approved by the FDA and one or more IRBs, human clinical studies may begin at a specific number of investigational sites with a specific number of patients, as approved by the FDA. If the device presents a non-significant risk to the patient, a sponsor may begin the clinical study after obtaining approval for the study by one or more IRBs without separate approval from the FDA, but must still follow abbreviated IDE requirements, such as monitoring the investigation, ensuring that the investigators obtain informed consent, and labeling and record-keeping requirements. Acceptance of an IDE application for review does not guarantee that the FDA will allow the IDE to become effective and, if it does become effective, the FDA may or may not determine that the data derived from the studies support the safety and effectiveness of the device or warrant the continuation of clinical studies. An IDE supplement must be submitted to, and approved by, the FDA before a sponsor or investigator may make a change to the investigational plan that may affect its scientific soundness, study plan or the rights, safety or welfare of human subjects.
During a study, the sponsor is required to comply with the applicable FDA requirements, including, for example, study monitoring, selecting clinical investigators and providing them with the investigational plan, ensuring IRB review, adverse event reporting, record keeping and prohibitions on the promotion of investigational devices or on making safety or effectiveness claims for them. The clinical investigators in the clinical study are also subject to FDA’s regulations and must obtain patient informed consent, rigorously follow the investigational plan and study protocol, control the disposition of the investigational device, and comply with all reporting and recordkeeping requirements. Additionally, after a study begins, we, the FDA or the IRB could suspend or terminate a clinical study at any time for various reasons, including a belief that the risks to study subjects outweigh the anticipated benefits.
Post-market Regulation
After a device is cleared or approved for marketing, numerous and pervasive regulatory requirements continue to apply. These include:
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● establishment registration and device listing with the FDA;
● QSR requirements, which require manufacturers, including third-party manufacturers, to follow stringent design, testing, control, documentation and other quality assurance procedures during all aspects of the design and manufacturing process;
● labeling regulations and FDA prohibitions against the promotion of investigational products, or the promotion of “off-label” uses of cleared or approved products;
● requirements related to promotional activities;
● clearance or approval of product modifications to 510(k)-cleared devices that could significantly affect safety or effectiveness or that would constitute a major change in intended use of one of our cleared devices, or approval of certain modifications to PMA-approved devices;
● medical device reporting regulations, which require that a manufacturer report to the FDA if a device it markets may have caused or contributed to a death or serious injury, or has malfunctioned and the device or a similar device that it markets would be likely to cause or contribute to a death or serious injury, if the malfunction were to recur;
● correction, removal and recall reporting regulations, which require that manufacturers report to the FDA field corrections and product recalls or removals if undertaken to reduce a risk to health posed by the device or to remedy a violation of the FDCA that may present a risk to health;
● the FDA’s recall authority, whereby the agency can order device manufacturers to recall from the market a product that is in violation of governing laws and regulations; and
● post-market surveillance activities and regulations, which apply when deemed by the FDA to be necessary to protect the public health or to provide additional safety and effectiveness data for the device.
The FDA has broad regulatory compliance and enforcement powers. If the FDA determines that we failed to comply with applicable regulatory requirements, it can take a variety of compliance or enforcement actions, which may result in any of the following sanctions:
● warning letters, untitled letters, fines, injunctions, consent decrees and civil penalties;
● recalls, withdrawals, or administrative detention or seizure of our products;
● operating restrictions or partial suspension or total shutdown of production;
● refusing or delaying requests for 510(k) marketing clearance or PMA approvals of new products or modified products;
● withdrawing 510(k) clearances or PMA approvals that have already been granted;
● refusal to grant export approvals for our products; or
● criminal prosecution.
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FDA Regulation of Combination Products
Certain products may be comprised of components, such as drug components and device components that would normally be regulated under different types of regulatory authorities, and frequently by different centers at the FDA. These products are known as combination products. Under the FDCA and its implementing regulations, the FDA is charged with assigning a center with primary jurisdiction, or a lead center, for review of a combination product. The designation of a lead center generally eliminates the need to receive approvals from more than one FDA component for combination products, although it does not preclude consultations by the lead center with other components of FDA. The determination of which center will be the lead center is based on the “primary mode of action” of the combination product. Thus, if the primary mode of action of a drug-device combination product is attributable to the drug product, the FDA center responsible for premarket review of the drug product would have primary jurisdiction for the combination product. The FDA has also established an Office of Combination Products to address issues surrounding combination products and provide more certainty to the regulatory review process. That office serves as a focal point for combination product issues for agency reviewers and industry. It is also responsible for developing guidance and regulations to clarify the regulation of combination products, and for assignment of the FDA center that has primary jurisdiction for review of combination products where the jurisdiction is unclear or in dispute. For example, a combination product with a drug primary mode of action generally would be reviewed and approved pursuant to the drug approval processes, and a combination product with a device primary mode of action would be reviewed and cleared, approved or classified pursuant to the medical device review processes, in each case under the FDCA. In reviewing the application for a combination product, however, FDA reviewers in the lead center will generally consult with their counterparts in other centers to ensure that each component meets applicable requirements regarding safety, effectiveness, durability and performance.
FDA Regulation of HCT/Ps
Certain of our products, including certain of our spinal and orthopedic products are regulated by the FDA as HCT/Ps, which may be regulated under Section 361 of the PHSA, which among other things, authorizes the FDA to issue regulations to prevent the introduction, transmission or spread of communicable disease. HCT/Ps regulated as “361” HCT/Ps are subject to requirements relating to registering facilities and listing products with the FDA, screening and testing for tissue donor eligibility, and Good Tissue Practice when processing, storing, labeling and distributing HCT/Ps, including required labeling information, stringent record keeping and adverse event reporting, among other applicable requirements and laws. Section 361 HCT/Ps do not require 510(k) clearance, PMA approval, Biologics License Application (“BLA”) submissions, or other premarket authorization from the FDA to be legally marketed in the United States. However, to be regulated as a Section 361 HCT/P, the product must, among other things, be “minimally manipulated,” which for structural tissue products, means that the manufacturing processes do not alter the original relevant characteristics of the tissue relating to the tissue’s utility for reconstruction, repair, or replacement. For cells or nonstructural tissue products, “minimal manipulation” means that the manufacturing processes do not alter the relevant biological characteristics of cells or tissues. A Section 361 HCT/P must also be intended for “homologous use,” which refers to use in the repair, reconstruction, replacement, or supplementation of a recipient’s cells or tissues with an HCT/P that performs the same basic function or functions in the recipient as in the donor. The HCT/P must also either have no systemic effect and not be dependent upon the metabolic activity of living cells for its primary function or, if it has a systemic effect, be intended for autologous use, for allogeneic use in a first-degree or second-degree blood relative, or for reproductive use. HCT/Ps that do not meet the criteria of Section 361 are regulated under Section 351 of the PHSA. Unlike 361 HCT/Ps, HCT/Ps regulated as “351” HCT/Ps are subject to premarket review and/or approval by the FDA.
International Requirements
Sales of medical devices and shipments of human tissues outside the United States are subject to international regulatory requirements that vary widely from country to country. Approval or certification of a product by comparable regulatory authorities of other countries or notified bodies must be obtained and compliance with applicable regulations for tissues must be met prior to commercial distribution of the products or human tissues in those countries. The time required to obtain these approvals or certifications may be longer or shorter than that required for FDA approval. Countries, in which we distribute products and tissue, may perform inspections or audits of our facilities to ensure compliance with local country regulations.
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Regulation of Medical Devices in the European Union
Prior to April 2017, the European Union (“EU”) required that all medical devices placed on the market in the EU must meet the relevant requirements laid out in Directive 93/42/EEC (“the Medical Devices Directive”) and/or Directive 90/385/EEC (“the Active Implantable Medical Devices Directive”) (collectively the “Directives”). In April 2017, the European Parliament passed the Medical Devices Regulation (Regulation 2017/745), which repealed and replaced the aforementioned EU Directives. The Medical Devices Regulation, among other things, is intended to establish a uniform, transparent, predictable and sustainable regulatory framework across the EU for medical devices and ensure a high level of safety and health while supporting innovation. The Medical Devices Regulation entered into application on May 26, 2021.
Medical devices that were CE marked under the Directives prior to May 26, 2021 may continue to be placed on the EU market until their certifications expire or on May 26, 2024, whichever occurs first. We have CE mark for four of our cardiovascular products and in January 2021, we obtained certification for updated labeling of our CanGaroo Envelope to allow for the addition of the antibiotic gentamicin. Our current CE certificates have been granted under the Medical Devices Directive. However, as of May 26, 2021, some of the Medical Devices Regulation requirements apply in place of the corresponding requirements of the Medical Devices Directive, including with regard to registration of economic operators and of devices, post-market surveillance and vigilance requirements. Pursuing marketing of medical devices in the EU will require that our devices be certified under the new regime set forth in the Medical Devices Regulation when our current certificates expire.
Medical Devices Directive
Under the Medical Devices Directive, all medical devices placed on the market in the EU must meet the relevant essential requirements laid down in Annex I to the Medical Devices Directive, including the requirement that a medical device must be designed and manufactured in such a way that it will not compromise the clinical condition or safety of patients, or the safety and health of users and others. In addition, the device must achieve the performance intended by the manufacturer and be designed, manufactured, and packaged in a suitable manner. The European Commission has adopted various standards applicable to medical devices. These include standards governing common requirements, such as sterilization and safety of medical electrical equipment and product standards for certain types of medical devices. There are also harmonized standards relating to design and manufacture. While not mandatory, compliance with these standards is viewed as the easiest way to satisfy the essential requirements as a practical matter as it creates a rebuttable presumption that the device satisfies that essential requirement.
To demonstrate compliance with the essential requirements laid down in Annex I to the Medical Devices Directive, medical device manufacturers must undergo a conformity assessment procedure, which varies according to the type of medical device and its (risk) classification. As a general rule, demonstration of conformity of medical devices and their manufacturers with the essential requirements must be based, among other things, on the evaluation of clinical data supporting the safety and performance of the products during normal conditions of use. Specifically, a manufacturer must demonstrate that the device achieves its intended performance during normal conditions of use, that the known and foreseeable risks, and any adverse events, are minimized and acceptable when weighed against the benefits of its intended performance, and that any claims made about the performance and safety of the device are supported by suitable evidence. Except for low-risk medical devices (Class I non-sterile, non-measuring devices), where the manufacturer can self-assess the conformity of its products with the essential requirements (except for any parts which relate to sterility or metrology), a conformity assessment procedure requires the intervention of a notified body. Notified bodies are independent organizations designated by EU member states to assess the conformity of devices before being placed on the market. A notified body would typically audit and examine a product’s technical dossiers and the manufacturers’ quality system (the notified body must presume that quality systems which implement the relevant harmonized standards – which is ISO 13485:2016 for Medical Devices Quality Management Systems – conform to these requirements). If satisfied that the relevant product conforms to the relevant essential requirements, the notified body issues a certificate of conformity, which the manufacturer uses as a basis for its own declaration of conformity. The manufacturer may then apply the CE mark to the device, which allows the device to be placed on the market throughout the EU.
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Throughout the term of the certificate of conformity, the manufacturer will be subject to periodic surveillance audits to verify continued compliance with the applicable requirements. In particular, there will be a new audit by the notified body before it will renew the relevant certificate(s).
Medical Devices Regulation
The regulatory landscape related to medical devices in the EU recently evolved. On April 5, 2017, the Medical Devices Regulation was adopted with the aim of ensuring better protection of public health and patient safety. The Medical Devices Regulation establishes a uniform, transparent, predictable and sustainable regulatory framework across the EU for medical devices and ensures a high level of safety and health while supporting innovation. Unlike the EU Medical Devices Directive, the Medical Devices Regulation is directly applicable in EU member states without the need for member states to implement into national law. This aims at increasing harmonization across the EU.
The Medical Devices Regulation became effective on May 26, 2021. The new Regulation among other things:
● strengthens the rules on placing devices on the market (e.g. reclassification of certain devices and wider scope than the Medical Devices Directive) and reinforces surveillance once they are available;
● establishes explicit provisions on manufacturers’ responsibilities for the follow-up of the quality, performance and safety of devices placed on the market;
● establishes explicit provisions on importers’ and distributors’ obligations and responsibilities;
● imposes an obligation to identify a responsible person who is ultimately responsible for all aspects of compliance with the requirements of the new regulation;
● improves the traceability of medical devices throughout the supply chain to the end-user or patient through the introduction of a unique identification number, to increase the ability of manufacturers and regulatory authorities to trace specific devices through the supply chain and to facilitate the prompt and efficient recall of medical devices that have been found to present a safety risk;
● sets up a central database (Eudamed) to provide patients, healthcare professionals and the public with comprehensive information on products available in the EU; and
● strengthens rules for the assessment of certain high-risk devices, such as implants, which may have to undergo a clinical evaluation consultation procedure by experts before they are placed on the market.
The Medical Devices Regulation requires that before placing a device, other than a custom-made device, on the market, manufacturers (as well as other economic operators such as authorized representatives and importers) must register by submitting identification information to the electronic system (Eudamed), unless they have already registered. The information to be submitted by manufacturers (and authorized representatives) also includes the name, address and contact details of the person or persons responsible for regulatory compliance. The Medical Devices Regulation also requires that before placing a device, other than a custom-made device, on the market, manufacturers must assign a unique identifier to the device and provide it along with other core data to the unique device identifier (“UDI”) database. These new requirements aim at ensuring better identification and traceability of the devices. Each device – and as applicable, each package – will have a UDI composed of two parts: a device identifier (“UDI-DI”) specific to a device, and a production identifier (“UDI-PI”) to identify the unit producing the device. Manufacturers are also notably responsible for entering the necessary data on Eudamed, which includes the UDI database, and for keeping it up to date. The obligations for registration in Eudamed will become applicable at a later date (as Eudamed is not yet fully functional). Until Eudamed is fully functional, the corresponding provisions of the Medical Devices Directive continue to apply for the purpose of meeting the obligations laid down in the provisions regarding exchange of information, including, and in particular, information regarding registration of devices and economic operators.
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All manufacturers placing medical devices on the market in the EU must comply with the EU medical device vigilance system which has been reinforced by the Medical Devices Regulation. Under this system, serious incidents and Field Safety Corrective Actions (“FSCAs”) must be reported to the relevant authorities of the EU member states. These reports will have to be submitted through Eudamed – once functional – and aim to ensure that, in addition to reporting to the relevant authorities of the EU member states, other actors such as the economic operators in the supply chain will also be informed. Until Eudamed is fully functional, the corresponding provisions of the Medical Devices Directive continue to apply. A serious incident is defined as any malfunction or deterioration in the characteristics or performance of a device made available on the market, including use-error due to ergonomic features, as well as any inadequacy in the information supplied by the manufacturer and any undesirable side-effect, which, directly or indirectly, might have led or might lead to the death of a patient or user or of other persons or to a temporary or permanent serious deterioration of a patient's, user's or other person's state of health or a serious public health threat. Manufacturers are required to take FSCAs defined as any corrective action for technical or medical reasons to prevent or reduce a risk of a serious incident associated with the use of a medical device that is made available on the market. An FSCA may include the recall, modification, exchange, destruction or retrofitting of the device. FSCAs must be communicated by the manufacturer or its legal representative to its customers and/or to the end users of the device through Field Safety Notices. For similar serious incidents that occur with the same device or device type and for which the root cause has been identified or a FSCA implemented or where the incidents are common and well documented, manufacturers may provide periodic summary reports instead of individual serious incident reports.
The advertising and promotion of medical devices is subject to some general principles set forth in EU legislation. According to the Medical Devices Regulation, only devices that are CE marked may be marketed and advertised in the EU in accordance with their intended purpose. Directive 2006/114/EC concerning misleading and comparative advertising and Directive 2005/29/EC on unfair commercial practices, while not specific to the advertising of medical devices, also apply to the advertising thereof and contain general rules, for example, requiring that advertisements are evidenced, balanced and not misleading. Specific requirements are defined at a national level. EU member states’ laws related to the advertising and promotion of medical devices, which vary between jurisdictions, may limit or restrict the advertising and promotion of products to the general public and may impose limitations on promotional activities with healthcare professionals.
Many EU member states have adopted specific anti-gift statutes that further limit commercial practices for medical devices, in particular vis-à-vis healthcare professionals and organizations. Additionally, there has been a recent trend of increased regulation of payments and transfers of value provided to healthcare professionals or entities and many EU member states have adopted national “Sunshine Acts” which impose reporting and transparency requirements (often on an annual basis), similar to the requirements in the United States, on medical device manufacturers. Certain countries also mandate implementation of commercial compliance programs.
The aforementioned EU rules are generally applicable in the European Economic Area (“EEA”) which consists of the 27 EU member states plus Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland.
Regulation of Medical Devices in the United Kingdom
Following a national referendum and enactment of legislation by the government of the United Kingdom (the "UK"), the UK formally withdrew from the European Union on January 31, 2020, commonly referred to as "Brexit," and, following the expiry of the Brexit transitional period on December 31, 2020, the UK now operates under a distinct regulatory regime and certain European Union laws now only apply to the UK in respect of Northern Ireland (as laid out in the Protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland). The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency ("MHRA''), is now the UK's standalone regulator. Although the UK and European Union have now reached an agreement on its future trading relationship (implemented in the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement from January 1, 2021, ("TCA")), the agreement does not cover all regulatory areas regarding medical devices, which may be subject to future bilateral discussions going forward and could further change the relationship between the UK and the European Union in this regard.
European Union laws which were directly applicable before the end of the transitional period or have been transposed into UK law through secondary legislation continue to be applicable as "retained EU law." However, new
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legislation such as Medical Devices Regulation (Regulation 2017/745) will not be applicable. The UK government has introduced a new Medicines and Medical Devices Act which seeks to address regulatory gaps through implementing regulations and delegated powers covering the fields of human medicines, clinical studies of human medicines, and medical devices.
Significantly, under the TCA there is no mutual recognition of regulatory regimes and certifications between the European Union and the UK. CE marks issued by EU-based Notified Bodies will continue to be recognized by the UK until June 30, 2023, but from July 1, 2023, new devices placed on the Great Britain market will need to conform with the new UK Conformity Assessment (UKCA) marking requirements. Since January 1, 2021, medical devices placed on the market in the UK must be registered with the MHRA, following a grace period ranging from four to 12 months. Manufacturers based outside the UK will also need to appoint a UK Responsible Person (which may be an individual or a corporate entity). Only a manufacturer established in the UK or a UK Responsible Person will be able to place a device on the market in Great Britain. Under the terms of the Protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland, products placed on the market in Northern Ireland will continue to be subject to the European Union regulatory regime. A public consultation by the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (“MHRA”) was opened until end of November 2021 on the post-Brexit regulatory framework for medical devices and diagnostics. The consultation proposes amendments to the UK Medical Devices Regulations 2002 (which are based on EU legislation, primarily the Medical Devices Directive), in particular to create new access pathways to support innovation, create an innovative framework for regulating software and artificial intelligence as medical devices, reform in vitro diagnostic regulation, and foster sustainability through the reuse and remanufacture of medical devices. The regime is expected to come into force in July 2023, coinciding with the end of the acceptance period for EU CE marks in Great Britain, subject to appropriate transitional arrangements. The consultation indicated that the MHRA will publish guidance in relation to the changes to the regulatory framework and may rely more heavily on guidance to add flexibility to the regime.
Our CE mark cardiovascular products are registered with the MHRA and are legally marketed in the UK.
Other International Regulations
The Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration, Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (“KFDA”), and DEKRA Certification B.V. (our EU notified body) perform periodic on-site inspections to review independently our compliance with systems and regulatory requirements. A number of countries outside of the EEA accept the CE mark in lieu of marketing submissions, as an addendum to that country’s application process.
Government Advocacy
We engage in public policy advocacy with policymakers and continue to work to demonstrate that our therapeutic products provide value to patients and to those who pay for healthcare. We advocate with government policymakers to encourage a long-term approach to sustainable healthcare financing that ensures access to innovative medicines and does not disproportionately target FDA-regulated medical devices and biologics as a source of budget savings. In markets with historically low rates of healthcare spending, we encourage those governments to increase their investments and adopt market reforms in order to improve their citizens’ access to appropriate healthcare.
Regulations Governing Fraud and Abuse
Within the United States, our products and our customers are subject to extensive regulation by a wide range of federal and state agencies that govern business practices in the medical device and healthcare industry. These laws include federal and state anti-kickback, false claims, physician payment transparency, anti-corruption, and other fraud and abuse statutes and regulations. Internationally, other governments also impose regulations in connection with their healthcare reimbursement programs and the delivery of healthcare items and services.
In the United States, federal healthcare fraud and abuse laws generally apply to our activities because procedures using our products are covered under federal healthcare programs including Medicare and Medicaid. The Anti-Kickback Statute is particularly relevant because of its broad applicability. Specifically, the Anti-Kickback Statute prohibits persons from knowingly and willfully soliciting, offering, receiving, or providing remuneration, directly or indirectly, in exchange for, or to induce, either the referral of an individual, or the furnishing, arranging for or recommending a good or service
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for which payment may be made in whole or part under federal healthcare programs, such as the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Statutory exceptions and regulatory safe harbors protect certain interactions if specific requirements are met. Failure to meet all of the requirements of a particular applicable statutory exception or regulatory safe harbor, however, does not make the conduct per se illegal under the U.S. federal Anti-Kickback Statute. Instead, the legality of the arrangement will be evaluated on a case by case basis based on a cumulative review of all its facts and circumstances. Further, a person or entity does not need to have actual knowledge of the Anti-Kickback Statute or specific intent in order to violate it to have committed a violation.
Another development affecting the healthcare industry is the increased use of the federal Civil False Claims Act and, in particular, actions brought pursuant to the False Claims Act’s “whistleblower” or “qui tam” provisions. The False Claims Act imposes liability on any person or entity that, among other things, knowingly presents, or causes to be presented, a false or fraudulent claim for payment by a federal healthcare program. In addition, the government may assert that a claim, including items or services resulting from a violation of the federal Anti-Kickback Statute, constitutes a false or fraudulent claim for purposes of the federal False Claims Act or federal civil money penalties statute. The qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act allow a private individual to bring actions on behalf of the federal government, alleging that the defendant has submitted a false claim to the federal government, and to share in any monetary recovery. In recent years, the number of suits brought against healthcare providers by private individuals has increased dramatically. In addition, insurance companies may also bring a private cause of action for treble damages against a manufacturer for a pattern of causing false claims to be filed under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (the “RICO”).
The federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, as amended by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (the “HIPAA”), among other things, created two new federal crimes: healthcare fraud and false statements relating to healthcare matters. The HIPAA healthcare fraud statute prohibits, among other things, knowingly and willfully executing, or attempting to execute, a scheme to defraud any healthcare benefit program, including private payors. A violation of this statute is a felony and may result in fines, imprisonment, and/or exclusion from government sponsored programs. The HIPAA false statements statute prohibits, among other things, knowingly and willfully falsifying, concealing or covering up a material fact or making any materially false, fictitious or fraudulent statement or representation in connection with the delivery of, or payment for, healthcare benefits, items or services. Similar to the federal Anti-Kickback Statute, a person or entity does not need to have actual knowledge of the Anti-Kickback Statute or specific intent in order to violate it to have committed a violation.
The federal Physician Payment Sunshine Act requires, among other things, manufacturers of drugs, devices, biologicals and medical supplies for which payment is available under Medicare, Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (with certain exceptions) to report annually to the government information related to payments or other transfers of value made to physicians (defined to include doctors, dentists, optometrists, podiatrists and chiropractors), certain non-physician practitioners (physician assistants, nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, certified nurse anesthetists, anesthesiologist assistants and certified nurse midwives) and teaching hospitals, as well as ownership and investment interests held by physicians and their immediate family members.
Similar state, local and foreign laws and regulations may also restrict business practices in the medical device and pharmaceutical industries, such as state anti-kickback and false claims laws, which may apply to business practices, including but not limited to, research, distribution, sales and marketing arrangements and claims involving healthcare items or services reimbursed by non-governmental third-party payors, including private insurers, or by patients themselves; state laws that require pharmaceutical companies to comply with the industry’s voluntary compliance guidelines and the relevant compliance guidance promulgated by the federal government, or otherwise restrict payments that may be made to healthcare providers and other potential referral sources; state laws and regulations that require drug manufacturers to file reports relating to pricing and marketing information; and state and local laws which require tracking gifts and other remuneration and transfer of value provided to physicians, other healthcare providers and entities.
Violations of fraud and abuse laws, including federal and state anti-kickback and false claims laws, may be punishable by criminal and civil sanctions, including fines and civil monetary penalties, the possibility of exclusion from federal healthcare programs (including Medicare and Medicaid), disgorgement and corporate integrity agreements, which
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impose, among other things, rigorous operational and monitoring requirements on companies. Similar sanctions and penalties, as well as imprisonment, also can be imposed upon executive officers and employees of such companies.
Anti-Bribery Laws
Compliance with complex foreign and United States laws and regulations that apply to our international operations increases our cost of doing business in international jurisdictions and could expose us or our employees to fines and penalties in the United States and abroad. These numerous and sometimes conflicting laws and regulations include the United States Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 (the “FCPA”). The FCPA prohibits United States companies, companies whose securities are listed for trading in the United States and other entities, and their officers, directors, employees, shareholders acting on their behalf and agents from offering, promising, authorizing or making payments to foreign officials for the purpose of influencing official decisions or obtaining or retaining business abroad or other benefits or otherwise obtaining favorable treatment. The FCPA also requires companies to maintain records that fairly and accurately reflect transactions and maintain a system of internal accounting controls sufficient to assure management’s control, authority and responsibility over our assets. In many countries, hospitals are government-owned and healthcare professionals employed by such hospitals, with whom we regularly interact, may meet the definition of a foreign official for purposes of the FCPA. Additionally, recently enacted U.S. legislation increases the monetary reward available to whistleblowers who report violations of federal securities laws, including the FCPA, which may result in increased scrutiny and allegations of violations of these laws and regulations. We maintain and update our policies and procedures and internal controls designed to provide reasonable assurance that we, our employees, partners and other intermediaries comply with the anti-corruption laws to which we are subject. However, there can be no assurance that such policies or procedures or internal controls will work effectively at all times or protect us against liability under these or other laws for actions taken by our employees, partners or other intermediaries with respect to our business. Violations of these laws and regulations could result in fines, criminal sanctions against us, our officers, or our employees, prohibitions on the conduct of our business, financial condition, results of operations, cash flows and damage to our reputation. In addition, investigations of any potential, actual or alleged violations of such laws or policies related to us, including any such investigation by U.S. or non-U.S. authorities, could harm our business.
Laws and Regulations Governing Data Privacy and Security
Numerous state, federal and foreign laws, including consumer protection laws and regulations, govern the collection, dissemination, use, access to, confidentiality and security of personal information, including health-related information. In the United States, numerous federal and state laws and regulations, including state data breach notification laws, state health information privacy laws, and federal and state consumer protection laws and regulations (e.g., Section 5 of the FTC Act), govern the collection, use, disclosure and protection of health-related and other personal information could apply to our operations or the operations of our partners. We may also be subject to U.S. federal rules, regulations and guidance concerning data security for medical devices, including guidance from the FDA. State laws may be more stringent, broader in scope or offer greater individual rights with respect to protected health information (“PHI”) than HIPAA, and state laws may differ from each other, which may complicate compliance efforts. Entities that are found to be in violation of HIPAA, as the result of a breach of unsecured PHI, a complaint about privacy practices, or an audit by HHS, may be subject to significant civil, criminal, and administrative fines and penalties and/or additional reporting and oversight obligations if required to enter into a resolution agreement and corrective action plan with HHS to settle allegations of HIPAA non-compliance.
California recently enacted the California Consumer Privacy Act (the “CCPA”), which creates new individual privacy rights for California consumers, as defined in the law, and places increased privacy and security obligations on entities handling certain personal information of consumers or households. The CCPA requires covered companies to provide new disclosures to consumers about such companies’ data collection, use and sharing practices, provide such consumers new ways to opt-out of certain sales or transfers of personal information, and provide consumers with additional causes of action. The CCPA went into effect on January 1, 2020, and as of July 1, 2020, the California Attorney General may bring enforcement actions for violations. Although there are limited exemptions for certain health-related information, including certain clinical study data, as currently written, the CCPA may impact our business activities and exemplifies the vulnerability of our business to the evolving regulatory environment related to health-related and other personal information. Additionally, a new California ballot initiative, the California Privacy Rights Act, was voted into law by
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California residents in November 2020. It imposes additional data protection obligations on companies doing business in California, including additional consumer rights processes and opt outs for certain uses of sensitive data. It also creates a new California data protection agency specifically tasked to enforce the law, which will likely result in increased regulatory scrutiny of California businesses in the areas of data protection and security. Similar laws have been proposed in other states and at the federal level, and if passed, such laws may have potentially conflicting requirements that would make compliance challenging.
EU member states, Switzerland, and other countries have also adopted data protection laws and regulations, which impose significant compliance obligations. For instance, the collection and use of personal health data in the EEA is governed by the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation (the “GDPR”). The GDPR became effective on May 25, 2018, repealing its predecessor directive and increasing responsibility and liability of medical device companies in relation to the processing of personal data of individuals within the EEA. The GDPR imposes strict obligations and restrictions on the ability to collect, analyze, and transfer personal data, including health data from clinical studies and adverse event reporting. In particular, these obligations and restrictions concern the consent of the individuals to whom the personal data relates, the information provided to the individuals, the transfer of personal data out of the EEA, security breach notifications, security and confidentiality of the personal data, and the imposition of substantial potential fines for breaches of the data protection obligations. Data protection authorities from the different EU and EEA member states may interpret the GDPR and national laws differently and impose additional requirements, which add to the complexity of processing personal data in the EU and the EEA Guidance on implementation and compliance practices are often updated or otherwise. The United Kingdom has mirrored the GDPR in domestic law with the amended Data Protection Act 2018 (the "UK GDPR"). On June 28, 2021, the European Commission adopted an adequacy decision for the UK that will enable data transfers from European Union member states to the UK for a four-year period, subject to subsequent extensions. Compliance with these and any other applicable privacy and data security laws and regulations is a rigorous and time-intensive process, and we may be required to put in place additional mechanisms ensuring compliance with the new data protection rules. If we fail to comply with any such laws or regulations, we may face significant fines and penalties that could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Coverage and Reimbursement
Market acceptance and sales of our products to our customers, who primarily consist of hospitals, government facilities, and ambulatory surgery centers, will depend on the availability of payor coverage and the adequacy of reimbursement, for the procedures using our products, by government insurance programs and other third-party payors. Payor coverage and reimbursement for procedures using medical devices in the United States and international markets vary significantly by country.
In the United States, our currently approved products are commonly treated as general supplies utilized in surgical procedures and if covered by third-party payors, are paid for as part of the procedure. Outside of the United States, there are many reimbursement programs through private payors as well as government programs. In some countries, government reimbursement is the predominant program available to patients and hospitals. Our commercial success depends in part on the extent to which governmental authorities, private health insurers and other third-party payors provide coverage for and establish adequate reimbursement levels for the procedures during which our products are used. Failure by physicians, hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers and other users of our products to obtain sufficient coverage and reimbursement from third-party payors for procedures in which our products are used, or adverse changes in government and private third-party payors’ coverage and reimbursement policies.
Based on our experience to date, third-party payors generally reimburse for the surgical procedures in which our products are used only if the patient meets the established medical necessity criteria for surgery. Some payors are moving toward a managed care system and control their healthcare costs by limiting authorizations for surgical procedures, including elective procedures using our devices. Although no uniform policy of coverage and reimbursement among payors in the United States exists and coverage and reimbursement for procedures can differ significantly from payor to payor, reimbursement decisions by particular third-party payors may depend upon a number of factors, including the payor’s determination that use of a product is:
● a covered benefit under its health plan;
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● appropriate and medically necessary for the specific indication;
● cost effective; and
● neither experimental nor investigational.
Third-party payors are increasingly auditing and challenging the prices charged for medical products and services with concern for upcoding, miscoding, using inappropriate modifiers, or billing for inappropriate care settings. Some third-party payors must approve coverage for new or innovative devices or procedures before they will reimburse healthcare providers who use the products or therapies. Even though a new product may have been cleared for commercial distribution by the FDA, we may find limited demand for the product unless and until reimbursement approval has been obtained from governmental and private third-party payors.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) is responsible for administering the Medicare program and sets coverage and reimbursement policies for the Medicare program in the United States. CMS, in partnership with state governments, also administers the Medicaid program and Children’s Health Insurance Program (“CHIP”). CMS policies may alter coverage and payment related to our product portfolio in the future. These changes may occur as the result of national coverage determinations issued by CMS or as the result of local coverage determinations by contractors under contract with CMS to review and make coverage and payment decisions. Medicaid programs are funded by both federal and state governments, and may vary from state to state and from year to year and will likely play an even larger role in healthcare funding pursuant to the Affordable Care Act.
A key component in ensuring whether the appropriate payment amount is received for physician and other services, including those procedures using our products, is the existence of a Current Procedural Terminology (“CPT”) code, to describe the procedure in which the product is used. To receive payment, healthcare practitioners must submit claims to insurers using these codes for payment for medical services. CPT codes are assigned, maintained and annually updated by the American Medical Association and its CPT Editorial Board. If the CPT codes that apply to the procedures performed using our products are changed or deleted, reimbursement for performances of these procedures may be adversely affected.
In the United States, some insured individuals enroll in managed care programs, which monitor and often require pre-approval of the services that a member will receive. Some managed care programs pay their providers on a per capita (patient) basis, which puts the providers at financial risk for the services provided to their patients by paying these providers a predetermined payment per member per month and, consequently, may limit the willingness of these providers to use our products.
We believe the overall escalating cost of medical products and services being paid for by the government and private health insurance has led to, and will continue to lead to, increased pressures on the healthcare and medical device industry to reduce the costs of products and services. All third-party reimbursement programs are developing increasingly sophisticated methods of controlling healthcare costs through prospective reimbursement and capitation programs, group purchasing, redesign of benefits, requiring second opinions prior to major surgery, careful review of bills, encouragement of healthier lifestyles and other preventative services and exploration of more cost-effective methods of delivering healthcare.
In addition to uncertainties surrounding coverage policies, there are periodic changes to reimbursement levels. Third-party payors regularly update reimbursement amounts and also from time to time revise the methodologies used to determine reimbursement amounts. This includes routine updates to payments to physicians, hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers for procedures during which our products are used. These updates could directly impact the demand for our products.
In international markets, reimbursement and healthcare payment systems vary significantly by country, and many countries have instituted price ceilings on specific product lines and procedures. There can be no assurance that procedures using our products will be covered for a specific indication, that our products will be considered cost-effective by third party payors, that an adequate level of reimbursement will be available or that the third-party payors’ reimbursement
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policies will not adversely affect our ability to sell our products profitably. Local, product specific reimbursement law is increasingly being applied as an overlay to medical device regulation, which has provided an additional layer of clearance requirement. Specifically, Australia now requires clinical data for clearance and reimbursement be in the form of prospective, multi-center studies, a high bar not previously applied. In addition, in France, certain innovative devices have been identified as needing to provide clinical evidence to support a “mark-specific” reimbursement. It is our intent to complete the requisite clinical studies and obtain coverage and reimbursement approval in countries where it makes economic sense to do so.
Healthcare Reform
Since its enactment, there have been judicial, executive and Congressional challenges to certain aspects of the ACA. On June 17, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed a challenge on procedural grounds that argued the ACA is unconstitutional in its entirety because the “individual mandate” was repealed by Congress. Thus, the ACA will remain in effect in its current form. Further, prior to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling, President Biden issued an executive order that initiated a special enrollment period for purposes of obtaining health insurance coverage through the ACA marketplace from February 15, 2021 through August 15, 2021. The executive order instructed certain governmental agencies to review and reconsider their existing policies and rules that limit access to healthcare, including among others, reexamining Medicaid demonstration projects and waiver programs that include work requirements, and policies that create unnecessary barriers to obtaining access to health insurance coverage through Medicaid or the ACA. It is unclear how other healthcare reform measures of the Biden administration will impact our business.
Other legislative changes have been proposed and adopted in the United States since the ACA was enacted, including aggregate reductions of Medicare payments to providers of 2% per fiscal year and reduced payments to several types of Medicare providers. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Stability Act (the “CARES Act”), which was signed into law on March 27, 2020, and subsequent legislative amendments suspended the reductions from May 1, 2020, through March 31, 2022, and extended the sequester through 2030. Moreover, there has recently been heightened governmental scrutiny, including increasing legislative and enforcement interest, over the manner in which manufacturers set prices for their marketed products, which has resulted in several Congressional inquiries and proposed and enacted legislation designed, among other things, to bring more transparency to product pricing, review the relationship between pricing and manufacturer patient programs, and reform government program reimbursement methodologies for products. Individual states in the United States have also become increasingly active in implementing regulations designed to control product pricing, including price or patient reimbursement constraints, discounts, restrictions on certain product access, and marketing cost disclosure and transparency measures and, in some cases, mechanisms to encourage importation from other countries. Furthermore, there has been increased interest by third party payors and governmental authorities in reference pricing systems and publication of discounts and list prices.
Human Capital
As of December 31, 2021, we had 176 employees, 100% of whom were full-time employees. We believe our employee relations are good.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
We believe that fostering diversity, equity, and inclusion is a key element to discovering, developing, and bringing transformative products to patients in need. As of December 31, 2021, 43% of our workforce and 31% of our leadership (at the director level and above) were female. In addition, as of December 31, 2021, 53% of our workforce were racially or ethnically diverse. We strive to build a workforce representative of the people we serve and to nurture an inclusive culture where all voices are welcomed, heard, and respected.
Recruiting and Retention
We believe that we have been successful in attracting and retaining qualified personnel with the appropriate background and skills to support our business and its growth. We monitor recruiting efforts using a variety of metrics such
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as internal placement rates, employee referrals, information on the retention of business critical hires, and the percentage of budgeted openings filled on time and on budget. We also track voluntary and involuntary turnover rates.
Compensation and Benefits
We strive to offer competitive pay and benefits designed to attract and retain exceptional talent and drive company performance. In setting appropriate compensation levels, we look at the average base pay rate for each position based on market data. We also offer an annual cash incentive program and long-term equity incentive plans designed to assist in attracting, retaining and motivating employees, to align their interests with our stockholders and to promote the creation of long-term value for our investors.
Our standard employee benefits include paid and unpaid leaves, medical, dental and vision insurance coverage, a 401(k) plan, short- and long-term disability, life insurance, flexible spending accounts and an employee stock purchase plan. We benchmark our benefits program against others in our industry to help us make decisions on the size and elements of our compensation program.
COVID-19
We continue to closely monitor the impact of the pandemic related to COVID-19 and its variants on our business. In March 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic and recommended various containment and mitigation measures worldwide. Since that time, the number of procedures performed using our products has decreased significantly, as governmental authorities in the United States have recommended, and in certain cases required, that elective, specialty and other non-emergency procedures and appointments be suspended or canceled and the access of our sales representatives to the associated healthcare facilities has been curtailed in order to avoid patient exposure to medical environments and the risk of potential infection with COVID-19, and to focus limited resources and personnel capacity on the treatment of COVID-19 patients. As a result, beginning in March 2020, a significant number of procedures using our products have been postponed or cancelled, which has negatively impacted sales of our products. These measures and challenges will likely continue for the duration of the pandemic, which is uncertain, and will likely continue to reduce our net sales and negatively impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.
In addition, numerous state and local jurisdictions, including those where our facilities are located, imposed, and others in the future may impose or re-impose, “shelter-in-place” orders, quarantines, executive orders and similar government orders and restrictions for their residents to control the spread of COVID-19 and its variants. Such orders or restrictions resulted in reduced operations at our manufacturing facilities, travel restrictions and cancellation of events, and have restricted the ability of our sales representatives and those of our commercial partners and independent sales agents to attend procedures in which our products are used, among other effects, thereby significantly and negatively impacting our operations.
The extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic impacts our future financial condition and results of operations will depend on future events and developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted, including the severity and spread of the disease, emergence of new variants, and the effectiveness of actions to contain the disease or treat its impact, among others. As new information regarding COVID-19 and its variants continues to emerge, it is difficult to predict the degree to which this disease will ultimately affect our business.
FiberCel Recall
On June 2, 2021, we issued a voluntary recall pertaining to a single donor lot of our FiberCel Fiber Viable Bone Matrix, a bone repair product formerly distributed by Medtronic, after learning of post-surgical infections reported in several patients treated with the product, including some patients that tested positive for tuberculosis.
Since issuing the recall, we have been working with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”) to identify and secure all unused product, ascertain the medical status of patients treated with the recalled product, understand whether there is any relationship between the post-surgical infections and the recalled product lot and determine the medical cause of these infections.
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We have identified the 154 units comprising the single product lot in question. Based on information from the CDC, 136 units within this product lot were implanted into 113 patients and the remaining 18 units were returned to either us or the CDC. Of these 113 patients, CDC has identified at least 75 patients who have exhibited clinical or diagnostic findings consistent with tuberculosis infection.
The CDC has advised us that the CDC, working with state health agencies, has contacted all patients treated with the recalled lot of FiberCel to help ensure they are directed to appropriate medical treatment and has informed us that all patients were started on standard four-drug treatment for tuberculosis. We have learned from the CDC that eight patients who received the product from the recalled lot have died; however, the cause of death for each patient is still being investigated through the review of medical records.
Samples of the recalled product have now undergone PCR analysis by a lab contracted by the CDC and tested positive for the presence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Cell culture testing of the recalled product was also conducted by the same lab that showed the presence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and this testing corroborated the PCR testing results. Twelve lots of FiberCel produced both before and after the single donor lot at issue have undergone PCR analysis and cell culture testing and have all tested negative for Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Based on these findings, we have no reason to believe that other units of FiberCel have been affected.
As part of our continuing cooperation with the FDA and CDC and our efforts to conduct a prompt and fulsome investigation into this matter, we have reviewed the processes for screening donors and producing FiberCel and have not identified any deviations from our established protocols, which are designed to comply with industry standards established by the American Association of Tissue Banks (“AATB”) as well as applicable FDA requirements and guidelines.
Our investigation into the available medical records for the donor at issue indicated: (1) the donor’s emergency department documentation 10 days before his decease reported “Never had TB”; (2) the donor had a negative tuberculosis skin test approximately four months before decease; (3) a Tuberculosis Risk Assessment Questionnaire administered approximately four months before the donor deceased was reported as showing negative for clinical or physical evidence of a tuberculosis infection; (4) multiple chest x-rays taken during a period of approximately 33 months before the donor deceased were all interpreted as negative for tuberculosis; and (5) a CT abdominal scan taken prior to the donor deceasing was interpreted as showing no evidence of swelling of lymph nodes.
To help ensure the safety of future production lots, we have implemented a number of potential safeguards against Mycobacterium tuberculosis that we believe exceed applicable industry standards and currently available FDA-approved testing. We have implemented additional donor screening procedures to include screening for any donor utilizing hemodialysis for an extended period of time and to request additional background and information on any time spent by the donor outside the United States. In addition, we have developed and begun utilizing a methodology for testing processed viable cell bone matrix tissue products for Mycobacterium tuberculosis as a further enhancement to our donor screening. As far as we are aware, there are no commercially available testing methods authorized by the FDA for detecting the presence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in these products. For an update on the legal proceedings related to the FiberCel Recall, see Part I, Item 3, “Legal Proceedings” and Note 16 to the consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report.
Corporate History
We were incorporated in Delaware in August 2015 as a subsidiary of TBI, now KeraLink. In November 2015, all of the assets and substantially all of the liabilities of the musculoskeletal division of TBI were contributed to us and 75% of the ownership interests in us were transferred to HighCape Partners QP, L.P. (“HighCape Partners QP”), certain of its affiliates, and Deerfield Private Design Fund III, L.P. (“Deerfield”).
Available Information
We file annual, quarterly and current reports, proxy statements and other information with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). Our SEC filings are available to the public over the Internet at the SEC’s website at
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www.sec.gov. Our SEC filings are also available free of charge under the Investor Relations section of our website at www.aziyo.com as soon as reasonably practicable after they are filed with or furnished to the SEC. Our website and the information contained on available through our website is not incorporated into this Annual Report.
We may use our website as a distribution channel of material information about the Company. Financial and other important information regarding the Company is routinely posted on and accessible through the Investor Relations sections of its website at www.aziyo.com . In addition, you may automatically receive email alerts and other information about the Company when you enroll your email address by visiting the “Email Alerts” option under the IR Resources menu of the Investor Relations of our website at www.aziyo.com . The reference to our website address does not constitute incorporation by reference of the information contained on or available through our website, and you should not consider such information to be a part of this Annual Report.