Onkos Surgical Announces First FDA De Novo Approval of an Antibacterial Coating for Tumor and Revision Orthopaedic Implants

- Bacterial contamination of orthopaedic implants is a growing clinical challenge that burdens the healthcare system and can lead to dangerous, potentially fatal complications for patients.

PARSIPPANY, N.J., April 8, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Onkos Surgical, an orthopaedic company founded to address the complex clinical challenges associated with bone loss due to tumor, trauma, and revision surgery, announced that the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) granted the company a De Novo approval for its novel antibacterial coated implants. Bacterial contamination of a permanent implant may have devastating effects, particularly in orthopedic oncology and revision arthroplasty applications where the patient population is highly vulnerable.

"Implant contamination is a growing concern to the orthopaedic surgical community," said Steven Gitelis, MD, Onkos Surgical Chief Medical Officer, Rush Medical College, Endowed Professor of Orthopaedic Oncology and Director, Musculoskeletal Oncology at Rush Cancer Center. "When bacteria contaminate the artificial joint, it can lead to a cascade of issues that can significantly impact the patient's health. The current tools in our armamentarium are simply not enough to help solve this multifactorial problem. The increasing prevalence of joint procedures underscores the importance of implementing effective strategies to address the presence of bacteria. The Onkos technology is a significant innovation and another option to help reduce local bacterial load on the implant."

A robust body of preclinical safety and efficacy data was generated to support the De Novo application. The data showed that the proprietary coating does not elute and has been proven to be bactericidal, with a 99.999% (5 log) kill rate in in-vitro testing of bacteria that are commonly found in the operating room environment. 

"Receiving De Novo approval to market this technology represents a significant milestone for our surgeon customers and the patients they care for," said Patrick Treacy, Onkos CEO and Co-founder. "When it comes to implant bacterial contamination and failure, patient complications may include decreased limb function, amputation, and increased rates of mortality. We are proud to bring this meaningful solution to the market and we look forward to working with the regulatory agencies to expand the application of the technology across our portfolio of market-leading personalized and limb reconstructive implants. This exciting technology has the potential to be one of the most important advances in orthopedic medical devices in decades."

The technology's effectiveness has not been shown in human clinical trials to prevent or reduce infection rates.

About Onkos Surgical
Onkos Surgical is a leader in innovative solutions for musculoskeletal oncology and complex orthopaedic conditions. With our Precision Orthopaedics solutions, surgeons are better informed about patient-specific clinical challenges and are able to plan and implement more precise reconstructions. Our personalized approach supports improved patient outcomes and experiences using the latest innovations in virtual surgical planning, 3D anatomic modeling and printing, implant design, and workflow optimization. More than 350 of the leading academic medical institutions in the US choose Onkos Surgical Precision Orthopaedics. For more information on Onkos Surgical and its products and services, please visit www.onkossurgical.com.

Forward Looking Statements

Certain statements made in this release that are not statements of historical or current facts are forward-looking statements which involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements of the company to be materially different from historical results or from any future results or projections expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. In many cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by terms such as "future," "believes," "expects," "may," "will," "should," "potential," "estimates," "intends," "anticipates" or "plans" or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. Forward-looking statements are based upon management's beliefs, assumptions and current expectations but are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties including, without limitation, launch delays and the possibility that post-market clinical results may be inconsistent with the in-vitro preclinical test results. Although management believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, forward-looking statements are not, and should not be relied upon as a guarantee of future performance or results. The forward-looking statements included are made only on the date of this release. The company assumes no obligation to update any information or forward-looking statement contained herein, save for any information required to be disclosed by law.

Media Contacts:
Sean Curry
Chief Commercial Officer
Onkos Surgical
[email protected]
973.264.5400

Alyssa Paldo
Vice-President, Media Relations Specialist
FINN Partners
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847.791.8085

SOURCE Onkos Surgical