RTIX News ``NPR News Morning Edition'' Runs Story on Allograft Safety, Includes Interview with Dr. Lennox Archibald
ALACHUA, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Regeneration Technologies, Inc. (RTI) (Nasdaq:RTIX), the Florida-based processor of orthopedic and other biologic implants, announced today that NPR News Morning Edition ran a story on allograft implant safety on Thursday, March 22. The story can be found on NPR’s website here: (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9048435).
Lennox K. Archibald, M.D., FRCP, DTM&H, medical director for RTI, was included in the story as an expert in allograft-associated infections. Dr. Archibald also currently serves as the hospital epidemiologist for Shands Hospital at the University of Florida, and adjunct professor of epidemiology in the Division of Epidemiology at the University of Florida, Gainesville.
Dr. Archibald was named RTI medical director in January 2003. Prior to joining the company, he served the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for eight years, most recently as acting medical director of the Epidemic Information Exchange and medical epidemiologist in the National Center for Infectious Diseases. His investigations of outbreaks of allograft-associated infections, which highlighted the need for patient safety in the tissue industry, were published in The New England Journal of Medicine in June 2004 and in Clinical Infectious Diseases in July 2005.
"The message of our CDC study is that while bacterial infection is a relatively uncommon complication in tissue transplantation, the increasing use of musculoskeletal tissue allografts in various surgical procedures renders a real health risk to recipients of tissue that has not undergone a sterilization process," Dr. Archibald said in a release after The New England Journal of Medicine study was published. "This study proves that aseptic processing of tissue alone is not adequate to enhance patient safety – tissue banks must find a way to include a sterilization step, like the BioCleanse® process, in their tissue processing methods."
RTI allografts undergo significant testing and processing, including sterilization, which has been validated to inactivate and/or remove all viral diseases for which human tissue donors are tested. In particular, RTI's patented BioCleanse Tissue Sterilization Process and the company's other viral inactivation processes are validated to eliminate the risk of donor-to-recipient disease transmission for diseases.
“Not all tissue processors have chosen to invest in this extra level of safeguards as RTI has,” said Brian K. Hutchison, RTI chairman, president and CEO. “While some organizations in our industry have implemented additional, voluntary measures validated to best ensure patient safety, other organizations have not. There is a risk associated with tissues that are not sterilized, and it is imperative that surgeons demand the safest implants to protect their patients.”
About Regeneration Technologies, Inc.
RTI processes allograft and xenograft tissue into shaped implants for use in orthopedic and other surgeries with a commitment to science, safety and innovation.
RTI also holds the patents on BioCleanse, the only proven tissue sterilization process validated to eliminate viruses, bacteria, fungi and spores from tissue without impacting the structural or biomechanical integrity of the tissue. The company has distributed more than half a million allograft implants sterilized with the BioCleanse process with zero incidence of infection. RTI is accredited by the American Association of Tissue Banks and was named a 2004 Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum.
Except for historical information, any statements made in this press release about the company's anticipated financial results, future operational results, regulatory approvals or changes to the company's agreements with its distributors are forward-looking statements subject to risks and uncertainties, such as those described in the company's public filings on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Actual results may differ materially from anticipated results reflected in these forward-looking statements. Copies of the company's SEC filings may be obtained by contacting the company or the SEC or by visiting RTI's web site at www.rtix.com or the SEC's web site at www.sec.gov.
