Choosing RTI
OTW: As you looked at RTI, where were the strengths, the things you could work with?
Farhat: This company has a lot of untapped potential laying underneath the many subscale businesses. There is a lot of technology here. My goal is to build a growing and sustainably profitable business that will treat more patients, create growth opportunities for employees and value for investors.
OTW: What do you build and what direction do you take RTI from here?
Farhat: I’ve outlined three transformation objectives for the company: Reduce complexity, drive operational excellence, and accelerate growth. We assembled a world-class management team to enact this transformation and we’ve made significant progress in just over a year since I joined the company. Culturally, we need to take RTI back to its roots with patient and customer intimacy, relevant and disciplined innovation, and a strong collaborative winning spirit.
And, as he did at GE and Medtronic, Farhat is sifting through RTI’s IP bank looking for clinically relevant technologies he can, perhaps re-purpose, or just introduce in new ways to new market niches.
“There is a part of the market that will be motivated by our knowledge of biologics, tissue and hardware, combined. It puts RTI in a unique position, I think, to re-think what healing is and what we need to do.”
“I believe the only way for a small company to succeed in spine today is to decide what you’re going to compete on, stay focused and defend it with your life.”
The Zyga Purchase
Farhat’s first significant strategic move was to acquire a small, Minnesota based spine company named Zyga in January 2018.
OTW: Why did you buy Zyga?
Farhat: Zyga brings us into the SI Joint [sacroiliac] market where you have, based on our research, about 850,000 patients in the U.S. that are getting SI injections, but less than 20,000 surgical procedures. The growth potential is phenomenal.
Zyga’s SImmetry system is highly differentiated and supported by clinical data—it is the only minimally invasive procedure that drives SI joint fusion through decortication.
With SImmetry, we’re aiming to help patients get back to their normal, active and pain-free lives. We’re not about simply treating a symptom.
OTW: Originally, treating the SI joint was a diagnostic problem.
Farhat: It still is a diagnostic problem. In some cases, physicians aren’t there. We continue to study the patient flow from a pain physician to a qualified surgeon to help patients address their problem.
We’re pleased with the data on SImmetry so far, which show fusion, pain reduction, reduction in use of opioids and other pain medications, and improvements in disability and quality of life.
We believe the decortication factor is driving strong clinical outcomes and sets us apart in the market.
This link between decortication and fusion of the SI Joint is something we’re going to explore more.
