Vertera Spine Founder Named to Forbes "30 Under 30" List

ATLANTA, Jan. 12, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Vertera Spine, a company focused on developing medical devices with advanced functional surface technologies for spine applications, announced today that one of its founding members, Allen Chang, was named to the Forbes 2016 "30 Under 30" list in the Manufacturing and Industry sector. The list, now in its fifth year, is comprised of "America's most important young entrepreneurs, creative leaders, and brightest stars." Mr. Chang was one of 600 selected across 20 sectors from a pool of over 15,000 candidates. The awardees represent a new generation of entrepreneurs and innovators that are pushing the boundaries in their respective industries by taking disruptive approaches to solve difficult problems.

Mr. Chang serves as an inventor on the company's novel biomaterial, Scoria.™ Scoria is a porous surface technology made entirely out of polyetherether ketone (PEEK) that was developed to address the clinical need for fusion devices that better osseointegrate while still remaining cost-effective. Unlike surface treatments that are coated onto devices, Scoria is grown directly out of the solid PEEK material creating a seamless surface-to-solid material interface that is more durable than metal coatings and two times stronger in shear than trabecular bone.¹ New results on the Scoria technology will be presented at the upcoming Selby Spine Conference on January 15^th in Park City, Utah.

"I'm honored to be included in this extraordinary group of talented people. I'm also grateful for the opportunity to work at Vertera Spine with a team of passionate engineers, scientists, clinicians and business people," said Mr. Chang. "With PEEK Scoria, we are solving the PEEK-bone integration problem while exploring other innovative approaches to improve clinical outcomes for spine patients. We have come a long way since founding the company over 2 years ago, and I am looking forward to seeing what we can achieve as we develop additional product lines in spine and beyond."

Mr. Chang received a Bachelor of Science degree in biomedical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a Master of Engineering from Boston University. Though he has always had a passion for science and problem solving, he first developed an interest in medical devices through his Master's coursework. Not long after that he was able to harness his talents and newfound interests into developing PEEK Scoria to address unmet clinical needs. Mr. Chang is currently preparing for the upcoming commercial launch of the COHERE™ Cervical Interbody Fusion Device, the company's first device featuring PEEK Scoria. COHERE represents a milestone in that it is the first FDA-cleared spine device to be manufactured entirely out of PEEK and contain porosity. COHERE leverages PEEK Scoria to combine the benefits of introducing a porous environment to bone without compromising the mechanical integrity of the implant. Vertera Spine will be releasing COHERE in multiple footprint and height configurations later this year.

About Vertera Spine: 
Vertera Spine is a privately held medical device company working to develop and commercialize a portfolio of surgical solutions that use or complement its patented porous surface technology to address critical clinical needs in spine procedures. The company has received grant funding from the National Science Foundation and Georgia Research Alliance to translate its growing technology portfolio into commercial products. For more information, visit www.verteraspine.com.

COHERE and Scoria are trademarks of Vertera Spine. All other trademarks and trade names are the property of their respective owners.

¹Evans NT, et al. Acta Biomaterialia, 2015; 13: 159-167.

SOURCE Vertera Spine

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http://www.verteraspine.com