RTI Surgical Inc, a surgical implant company that provides surgeons with biologic, metal and synthetic implants, has successfully completed the first human implantation of the company’s map3 Cellular Allogeneic Bone Graft implant.
Franco E. Vigna, M.D., M.P.H., a board-certified orthopedic surgeon with Spine Surgery of Buffalo, New York and a fellow with the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, performed the first implantation during a spinal surgery in New York. He used the implant’s chips allograft configuration, one of two configurations that the firm plans to make available.
“I am excited to have map3 as an option for my patients because of its specific osteogenic and angiogenic properties, ” said Vigna. “The future of spine surgery is biologics. We can place the best metal implants but if the bony fusion does not take place, those implants will loosen and the fusion will fail. Having top quality natural biologics along with excellent metal implants gives physicians and patients the best of both worlds.”
According to company officials map3 cellular allogeneic bone graft is a natural and safe alternative to autograft. They claim that map3 provides a streamlined approach to bone grafting and supplies the three elements necessary for bone repair—osteogenesis, osteoinduction and osteoconduction—in a single allograft. Map3 incorporates multipotent adult progenitor cell-based technology with stem cells isolated from the same donor as the other bone material.
The MAPC technology, which the firm licensed from Athersys, Inc. for this orthopedic application, represents what company officials claim to be a distinctive type of stem cell with recognized angiogenic and immuno-modulatory properties. Once launched, they say that map3 will be available in multiple configurations and sizes, providing bone grafting options for various bone repair, reconstruction and fusion procedures. They anticipate a market release of the implant later this year.
“We are thrilled to reach this milestone for map3, ” said Brian K. Hutchison, RTI president and CEO. “The MAPC-based technology offers the greatest potential to create high quality, innovative implants for our surgeons and their patients.” RTI is headquartered in Alachua, Fla., and has four manufacturing facilities throughout the U.S. and Europe
