MEQUON, Wis.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Titan Spine, a medical device surface technology company focused on developing innovative spinal interbody fusion implants, today announced Ted Bird has joined the executive management team as Chief Commercial Officer (CCO). Mr. Bird will be responsible for the Company’s global sales, marketing, strategic partnering, and national target accounts.
Peter Ullrich, Chief Executive Officer of Titan Spine, commented, “Ted is a well-respected medical device commercial leader with more than 30 years of sales, marketing and senior executive experience at leading healthcare companies. He is well-known and highly regarded in the spine industry, with extensive relationships among surgeons and distributors built from over 25 years working with spine companies including ApiFix, Orthofix, Depuy Spine and Medtronic Sofamor Danek. We look forward to Ted’s significant spine commercialization expertise and contributions as Titan Spine continues ramping up its full U.S. launch of our Endoskeleton® titanium implants featuring our groundbreaking nanoLOCK® surface technology, the only nano-cleared interbody device on the market shown to elicit a nano-cellular level response for bone growth.”
Mr. Bird added, “I am incredibly excited and honored to be joining the Titan Spine team. The company has been at the forefront of moving the interbody device marketplace away from PEEK and towards titanium surface-enhanced implants for improved patient outcomes with validated, peer-reviewed science and strong support from surgeons, hospitals and the U.S. government. I look forward to working closely with the talented team at Titan Spine to continue building on the positive momentum that the company continues to generate and help lead the next phase of the company’s evolution and growth.”
Prior to joining Titan Spine, Mr. Bird was the non-executive Chairman of the Board for ApiFix, an Israeli start-up company with a minimally invasive, fusion-less technology for correction of early onset and adolescent scoliosis and President of Bird Medical, a strategic consulting firm for healthcare manufacturers. Previously, Mr. Bird successfully led and inspired global business units and commercial teams at Orthofix, including roles as President, Spine Fixation Division, Senior Vice President Global Marketing and Senior Vice President, U.S. Sales; Depuy Spine, including roles of Vice President, Field Marketing & Strategic Development and Vice President of Spine Arthroplasty Education; and Medtronic Sofamor Danek, including roles as Vice President, Global Medical Education and Emerging Technologies and Vice President, Marketing. He started his career in arthroscopy sales at Dyonics and progressed to key marketing positions at Microvasive and Johnson & Johnson Orthopedics. Mr. Bird is a graduate of Brown University with bachelor’s degrees in International Relations and Political Science.
Titan Spine offers a full line of Endoskeleton® devices that feature Titan Spine’s proprietary nanoLOCK® surface technology, consisting of a unique combination of roughened topographies at the macro, micro, and nano levels (MMN™). This unique combination of surface topographies is designed to create an optimal host-bone response and actively participate in the fusion process by promoting the upregulation of osteogenic and angiogenic factors necessary for bone growth, encouraging natural production of bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs), downregulating inflammatory factors, and creating the potential for a faster and more robust fusion.1,2 All Endoskeleton® devices are covered by the company’s risk share warranty.
About Titan Spine
Titan Spine, LLC is a surface technology company focused on the design and manufacture of interbody fusion devices for the spine. The company is committed to advancing the science of surface engineering to enhance the treatment of various pathologies of the spine that require fusion. Titan Spine, located in Mequon, Wisconsin and Laichingen, Germany, markets a full line of Endoskeleton® interbody devices featuring its proprietary textured surface in the U.S. and portions of Europe through its sales force and a network of independent distributors. To learn more, visit www.titanspine.com.
1 Olivares-Navarrete, R., Hyzy S.L., Gittens, R.A., Berg, M.E., Schneider, J.M., Hotchkiss, K., Schwartz, Z., Boyan, B. D. Osteoblast lineage cells can discriminate microscale topographic features on titanium-aluminum-vanadium surfaces. Ann Biomed Eng. 2014 Dec; 42 (12): 2551-61.
2 Olivares-Navarrete, R., Hyzy, S.L., Slosar, P.J., Schneider, J.M., Schwartz, Z., and Boyan, B.D. (2015). Implant materials generate different peri-implant inflammatory factors: PEEK promotes fibrosis and micro-textured titanium promotes osteogenic factors. Spine, Volume 40, Issue 6, 399–404.
