Medtronic announces U.S. launch of Kyphon Xpede Bone Cement for spinal fracture treatment

Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE:MDT) today announced the U.S. launch of Kyphon Xpede Bone Cement, a quick-to-dough polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) bone cement for use in the treatment of spinal fractures with minimally invasive Kyphon^® Balloon Kyphoplasty.

Xpede Bone Cement reaches the doughy state more than twice as fast compared with Kyphon® HV-R® Bone Cement and Kyphon® ActivOs™ 10 Bone Cement. This latest innovative bone cement from Medtronic's Kyphon Products Division helps streamline the Kyphon Balloon Kyphoplasty procedure, while providing sufficient time for careful surgical introduction and controlled delivery.

"Xpede Bone Cement not only is quick to dough, but also provides all of the handling characteristics that physicians have grown to expect from the Kyphon Products Division, which pioneered balloon kyphoplasty. These include a long working time and radiopacity for easy visualization during minimally invasive and image-guided procedures," said Alex DiNello, general manager and vice president of the Kyphon Products Division. "With this product, Medtronic continues to leverage our leadership position in balloon kyphoplasty for the treatment of vertebral compression fractures. Since we began marketing this treatment in 2000, an estimated 900,000 fractures have been treated worldwide with Kyphon Balloon Kyphoplasty by approximately 14,000 trained spine specialists."

Xpede Bone Cement further expands Medtronic's portfolio of bone cements for treatment of patients with vertebral compression fractures caused by osteoporosis or cancer. Xpede Bone Cement joins the Kyphon bone cement product family in the U.S. that also includes:

• Kyphon ActivOs 10 Bone Cement, a PMMA-based bone cement formulated with 10 percent hydroxyapatite by weight in the powder. Hydroxyapatite is chemically and structurally similar to the mineral component of bone, has been widely studied, and has a long history of use in dental and orthopedic implants.
• Kyphon HV-R Bone Cement, the first PMMA bone cement for use in kyphoplasty.

"I find that Xpede Bone Cement streamlines the balloon kyphoplasty procedure," said Dr. Wade Wong*, professor of clinical radiology and anesthesiology at the University of California, San Diego and chief of neurointerventional spine. "It is quick to dough and has a long working time, which provides me with increased control and ease of handling."