New Minimally Invasive Surgical Technique May Help Osteoporosis Patients.

Osteoperosis patients suffering from the numbing back pain caused by their disease may have new hope for relief, thanks to a new variation on a treatment called vertebroplasty. The treatment, which enables surgeons increased access to a patient's vertebral body, where a cushion of pain-relieving material can be placed, may soon become more readily available thanks to a recent acquisition made by a southern California company.

Irvine, California based Interpore Cross International (Nasdaq NM: BONZ) recently announced that it has acquired American OsteoMedix (AOM), a privately held, Leesburg, Virginia based manufacturer of the AOM-CDO system, a controlled delivery system designed to enhance the efficiency, safety and performance of vertebroplasty procedures.

The acquisition propels Interpore Cross, already the nation's largest independent public medical device company focused on spinal surgery solutions, into the rapidly growing vertebroplasty market. Osteoporosis causes more than 600,000 vertebral compression fractures in the US each year, and vertebroplasty is the only recognized surgical technique that successfully relieves the pain of such fractures.

By providing a new approach for gaining access to and placing pain-relieving material into a patient's vertebral body, the minimally invasive AOM-CDO system enables surgeons to reduce the time of vertebroplasty procedures by approximately 80% while also dramatically reducing the I nerve damage common when the procedure is performed without the AOM-CDO system.

According to a statement issued recently by David C. Mercer, Interpore Cross chairman and chief executive officer, the company plans to maintain ACM's current operations in Leesburg while establishing a national and international distribution platform for the AOM-CDO system previously unavailable via the fledgling ACM's distribution channels. Interpore Cross will now be the exclusive marketer of the AOM-CDO system.

"We are extremely pleased and optimistic with this acquisition," said Mercer. "Not only does it help usher us into the large and growing vertebroplasty market, it adds to our existing selection of products for the spine market in general. The AOM-CD System uniquely positions us to offer surgeons a cost- and time-saving new treatment modality that is minimally invasive and significantly safer than other techniques."

Interpore Cross International is a medical device company that designs, manufactures and markets spinal implant devices and orthobiologic products on a worldwide basis. The spinal products are used to treat degenerative conditions, deformities and trauma of the spine. The orthobiologic products are used for bone and soft tissue repair in orthopedic and other applications. For more information, visit the company's website at www.interpore.com.