Minimally Invasive Sacroiliac Joint Surgery

SI-BONE, Inc. Announces Appointment of Andrea Mercanti as Vice President of European Operations

Medtech veteran joins SI-BONE Team to oversee EU commercialization of iFuse™ Implant System minimally invasive sacroiliac joint surgery device

San Jose, California, September 13, 2010 /PRNewswire / -- SI-BONE, Inc. (San Jose, California), a medical device company that is pioneering the use of a minimally invasive surgical (MIS) device to treat the sacroiliac (SI) joint announced today that Andrea Mercanti has joined the SI-BONE team serving as Vice President of European Operations. This announcement comes on the heels of SI-BONE recently announcing financing that totaled $11.0 million from new and existing investors.

Andrea has over 25 years experience in the medical device field in multinational, small,
mid- and large-cap companies. He has held various positions of executive responsibility in international distribution and operations throughout his career, and most recently was General Director of the Italian subsidiary of MBA Inc., one of the largest international orthopedic, spinal and biomaterial distributors in Europe. His main responsibilities included acquisition of new product lines for European Union (EU) distribution. Previously, Andrea was VP Sales Europe for Blackstone Medical (Orthofix Spine) where he created an EU sales structure for orthopedic product lines, which generates in excess of $9.0 million in annual revenue. He was with Medtronic Europe for over 18 years, where he held increasing sales responsibilities in different divisions, including 12 years in spinal cord stimulation treatment for pain, two years in the Peripheral Vascular Business Unit managing sales of endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm (endo-AAA) grafts before moving to the Spine Division where he became Sales Director managing the integration of Sofamor Danek into Medtronic. Andrea joined Kyphon International as Business Unit Director for Italy, was promoted to Regional Director of South Europe, and in 2007 was appointed Director of the German speaking countries. His area of responsibility represented 85% of the total sales of Kyphon International. Andrea earned an Economics degree from the Technical & Economics School at the Institute of Milan.

"We are pleased that Andrea has joined our team. He brings relevant experience and a level of passion for strategic innovation that fits well with our team in Europe," said Jeff Dunn, President and Chief Executive Officer of SI-BONE, Inc. "We will shortly have our CE Mark and with that Andrea will guide key commercial and clinical programs focused on the iFuse Implant System™ that aid spine surgeons in a minimally invasive surgical approach to SI joint fixation/fusion," said Dunn.

Surgeons across the United States are implanting iFuse and preparing to report their initial clinical data at several significant spine meetings this fall. Upcoming clinical presentations on the iFuse early experience will be made at the North American Spine Surgery (NASS) in Orlando on October 7 on the main floor and at SI-BONE’s Satellite Symposium, the American Association of Pain Management & Rehabilitation (AAPM&R) on November 5, the Society of Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery (SMISS) on November 6 and World Congress of Low Back & Pelvic Pain in Los Angeles on November 12. Surgeons participating in iFuse clinical evaluation include Steven Garfin, Fred Geisler, David Polly, Leonard Rudolf, J. John Halki, Arnold Graham-Smith and A. Nick Shamie.

In response to increasing awareness of SI Joint disruption and dysfunction as debilitating symptom generators, SI-BONE, Inc. developed an innovative, patented, intramedullary implant to treat the SI Joint. The company is also embarking on a postmarket multicenter study to determine its effect over time on SI Joint pathology and on symptoms associated with SI Joint problems.

The iFuse Implant System is a commercially available device in the US intended for fracture fixation of large bones and large bone fragments of the pelvis for conditions including sacroiliac joint disruptions and degenerative sacroiliitis. The iFuse procedure uses a minimal incision for delivery and implantation of small, titanium implants. The implants are coated with a porous plasma spray that acts as an interference surface, designed to help decrease implant motion. These implants have substantial thickness and sophisticated metallurgy and are able to produce a much stronger construct than that of conventional pins or screws used to surgically fix boney structures. This implant technology from SI-BONE has been previously used successfully in well over 1,000 cases of dysfunctional foot joints.

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About SI-BONE, Inc.
SI-BONE, Inc. (San Jose, California) is a leading spinal medical device company dedicated to the development of tools and products for diagnosing and treating patients with low back issues related to sacroiliac (SI) joint pathology. The company has developed, and is manufacturing and marketing, less invasive approaches using implants for the treatment of SI Joint pathology. SI-BONE has an experienced management team with extensive experience in orthopedic and spine medical devices.