SmartTRAK spotlights CytexOrtho, the AAOS 2024 OrthoPitch winner, as it develops its biodegradable implant to address early joint degeneration.
In this interview with SmartTRAK, CytexOrtho CEO Brad Estes, PhD, discusses the company’s cartilage repair implant, ReNewHip, an engineered bicomponent implant used for cartilage regeneration.
To find out more about CytexOrtho and its technology, click the image below to watch the video (26:37 min). A link to download a transcript of the interview is also provided below.
SmartTRAK: Hi, this is Emily Meng with SmartTrak. Today I'm here with CytexOrtho CEO Brad Estes. Thanks, Brad, for joining me today.
Bradley Estes: Yeah, I'm happy to be here. Thanks for having me.
So, we'll just jump in and start asking you some questions. Let’s start with can you tell me about yourself and your background and how you got started with CytexOrtho.
BE: Yeah, it was kind of a circuitous route to get here. I started my career in the Medtech industry with Sofamor Danek, which was eventually acquired by Medtronic, and kind of did a lot of R&D in the heyday of spine, I like to say it, and was even on the team that did BMP-2. So that was a lot of fun seeing the role of a biologic in orthopedics and what that could really do to change the way patients are treated. And so I spent about eight years in Medtronic and then I left industry, came to academia, did a PhD at Duke and kind of retooled and learned the molecular biology, the stem cell biology, the tissue engineering and just kind of gained a whole new skill set. I got to work with some really great people and that kind of set us off on our journey of where we are today and kind of tie in some product development experience with science and having the right time and the right people and the right funding to push forward with CytexOrtho. And I'm sure I caused more questions in that response than answered, but I'm happy to fill in the gaps, too.
Can you tell us a little bit about CytexOrtho and what you guys are doing, and specifically, I guess, for ReNew Hip, since that's your product that is under development.
BE: So, our goal from the beginning has been to treat that patient that currently has no solutions. I'm talking the patient in their 30s, 40s or 50s that have early-stage hip disease, but they have no solutions right now. Their plight is kind of sad if you think about it. They go see their doctor, they have some hip pain, they're starting to not be able to do the things they want to do. And so, they take some ibuprofen, do some PT, and let's come back and see me in a year and that progresses for about seven or eight years typically. That's what our data tells us. That patient is just living with more chronic pain and increasing disability over that eight years until finally they can't take it anymore and then they replace their hip. And so, our technology is ...
