Bacterin International Appoints Three New Members to Its Board of Directors

BELGRADE, Mont., July 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Bacterin International, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: KKTZ) ("Bacterin"), a developer of anti-infective coatings for medical applications and revolutionary bone graft material, today announced that it has confirmed the appointment of three seasoned financial experts to its Board of Directors.  The three appointments include Daniel R. Frank whose asset management experience spans 31 years with particular focus on the healthcare industry and has served on several public and private Boards of Directors; Gary M. Simon, who has served as CFO for two NASDAQ listed companies and has managed investment money for over a decade; and Ken Calligar, who has over 25 years of executive management experience in corporate finance and capital markets.

Commenting on the board appointments, Guy Cook, Bacterin's founder and CEO, said, "Danny, Gary and Ken bring a wealth of knowledge and wisdom to Bacterin and have a vested interest in contributing to the company's success, as each have participated in our recent financing."  Our Company produces biologics that are proprietary, highly effective, FDA approved, fully reimbursed by insurance companies and have the potential to be industry changing.  We now have the financial talent inside our Company and on the Board to provide us with a solid foundation upon which we can build a rapidly growing revenue base.  Their understanding of successful, emerging, growth companies, the capital markets and, in Danny's case, the healthcare industry will be an invaluable component to our board as we execute our strategy to elevate Bacterin to the next level."

Daniel R. Frank, who joins the Bacterin Board of Directors as Chairman of the Nominations Committee, began his career at Fidelity Investments in 1979 as an analyst, worked with Peter Lynch on the Magellan Fund, and in 1982 was given sole portfolio responsibility for the Fidelity Special Situations Fund, which he launched and grew to over $800 million.  Mr. Frank left Fidelity after 14 years, at which point he was ranked by Barrons as one of the top 100 portfolio managers in the United States.  Mr. Frank then became Managing Director of the Soros Chatterjee Fund where he invested in both public and private health care companies.  Mr. Frank then became managing director of ACI Capital and, most recently, the managing director of Cerberus Capital Management responsible for running its $300 million healthcare fund.  Mr. Frank has served on several public and private healthcare company boards including Aton Pharmaceuticals, I-Stat, Reva Medical, Molecular Insight Pharmaceuticals, and Biosphere Medical.  

Gary M. Simon has accepted the Bacterin board position as Chairman of the Audit Committee. Mr. Simon is a managing member of UVE Partners, LLC an investment fund which he co-founded.  Prior to UVE Partners, Mr. Simon was Senior Vice President of Barington Capital Group, a full-service investment banking firm.  During the 1990s he served as Chief Financial Officer of Concord Camera Corp and Multi-Media Tutorial Services, both NASDAQ listed companies. Mr. Simon began his career at Ernst & Young where he served as a Senior Manager in the Corporate Finance Group, providing mergers and acquisitions advisory services to small and medium sized companies and as a Senior Accountant providing auditing and advisory services to emerging growth companies.  Mr. Simon received his MBA in finance from New York University.

Ken Calligar will join the Bacterin Board of Directors as Chairman of its Compensation Committee.  Mr. Calligar has over 25-years executive level experience in the financial industry.  He is the founder and managing partner of Convertible Capital, an investment banking firm, specializing in highly tailored capital raising and advisory work.  Prior to Convertible Capital, Mr. Calligar was a managing director with Jefferies & Co. where he ran the equity-linked Capital Markets Group, and has held managing positions in convertible securities groups at H&Q, Chase, Painewebber, and UBS.  Mr. Calligar has deep experience in deal structuring, M&A, and raising capital in both equity and debt markets.

About Bacterin International

Bacterin processes and markets innovative, biologic allografts for transplantation. The Company's products, OsteoSponge®, OsteoSponge SC® and OsteoWrap®, are made from demineralized bone that is malleable and flexible, which enables more efficient and precise handling. It also markets BacFast® and OsteoLock®, which are used in spine surgery, designed to minimize graft back-out, and increase osteoinductivity. Bacterin's latest allograft, OsteoSelect® DBM Putty has excellent handling characteristics and is distributed as a sterile product, with osteoinductivity testing completed on every lot after terminal sterilization.  Headquartered in Belgrade, Montana, Bacterin operates a 32,000 sq. ft., state-of-the-art, full compliant and FDA registered facility, equipped with five "Class 100" clean rooms.

This news release contains disclosures that are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include statements that are predictive in nature, that depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, or that include words such as "continue," "efforts," "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates," "projects," "forecasts," "strategy," "will," "goal," "target," "prospects," "potential," "optimistic," "confident," "likely," "probable" or similar expressions. These forward-looking statements are based on current expectations or beliefs and include, but are not limited to, statements about maximizing gross profit dollars and the Company's potential to achieve top and bottom line growth. Statements of historical fact also may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. We caution that these statements by their nature involve risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially depending on a variety of important factors, including, among others: the company's ability to meet its obligations under existing and anticipated contractual obligations; the company's ability to develop, market, sell and distribute desirable applications, products and services and to protect its intellectual property; the ability and willingness of third-party manufacturers to timely and cost-effectively fulfill orders from the company; the ability of the company's customers to pay and the timeliness of such payments, particularly during recessionary periods; the company's ability to obtain financing as and when needed; changes in consumer demands and preferences; the company's ability to attract and retain management and employees with appropriate skills and expertise; the impact of changes in market, legal and regulatory conditions and in the applicable business environment, including actions of competitors; and other factors. The company undertakes no obligation to release publicly any revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

SOURCE Bacterin International, Inc.