For a brief moment in time (1684-1689) Texas was ruled by the French. A few hundred years later, one enterprising Frenchman returned, bearing items that would help heal the suffering. He too spoke no English.
In France, Christophe Lavigne was a rock n roll musician. In the U.S. he became best known as the co-founder of the pioneering spinal implant company, LDR.
When he came to Austin, Texas originally, Lavigne along with co-founders Hervé Dinville and Patrick Richard, despite the language difficulties, learned the nuances of diplomacy to establish the innovative start-up spine company, LDR. LDR’s lead product, Mobi-C CDR, was the first FDA approved motion-preserving cervical spinal implant for one- and two-level adjacent cervical discs.
In 2011 Lavigne was named a 2011 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award winner.
On December 2, 2014 Christophe Lavigne rang the Nasdaq Stock Market Opening Bell.
Two years later LDR was sold to Zimmer Biomet for $1.1 billion.
It All Started With a Guitar
With little to do in the village de Pont De Veyle, France, the 14-year-old Christophe Lavigne turned to the guitar, in part because it was portable. “My parents moved our family roughly every two years, so I lost friends and girlfriends, but I always had my guitar. At the end of the day, living in different places was very helpful because I got to see that despite our differences, you really find the same type of people everywhere who pretty much want the same things.”
There were no musicians in his family and no YouTube videos to guide him, so Lavigne taught himself. “I began to play and write songs and then started working with different bands. In fact, I spent so much time on my music that I had to take the baccalaureate—the exam needed to go to university—three times.”
When he finally did get on track, Lavigne did a two-year program in mechanical studies , then obtained a European master’s degree in marketing. “The other option was engineering,” says Lavigne. “I liked biomechanics, but it wasn’t something that I wanted to focus on. At that time, the only products I had were my songs. And since we had no Internet or CDs, I would go directly to record companies and try to get them to listen to my music.”
After completing his university studies in 1991, Lavigne undertook his one-year mandatory military duty. “After this, we lived with my now wife and her parents while I looked for job. I found a position as a marketing manager at a small company that designed the ProDisc—JBS. That is where I met the famed product designer, Dr. Thierry Marnay; JBS’s CEO and founder, Mr.Jean François Jeanson, who hired me in 10 minutes. At that point I didn’t understand what type of products we were selling.”
A Day in the OR Decides It
“On my first day Mr. Jeanson took me to the OR and said, ‘At the end of the day you will either resign or you will stay in this business for life.’ Well, I went all in after that day…and I had a lot to learn. At that time if a surgeon gave you the green light, you could be in the OR and sometimes scrub in. And that is how I learned what spine surgery was…I came to love it because there are always new challenges.”
Working shoulder to shoulder with Dr. Marnay was an adventure as well, says Lavigne. “I spent a lot of time with the colorful Dr. Marnay. Not only was I in the OR with him, but he got me involved in a lot of programs including research and development. It was the first time I was able to participate in product design with a surgeon.”
Aesculap went on to acquire JBS, where Lavigne headed up the spine and neuro division. Following this, Aesculap and B. Braun merged. “I stayed on for two years, but spine was not their top priority, so I decided to make a change.”
So along with Hervé Dinville and Patrick Richard, Christophe Lavigne took their 8,000 Euros and struck out on their own. Still in small town Troyes, the newly formed team had its pick of talent. “JBS was located there and when Aesculap/B. Braun closed its office there were lots of experienced spine professionals seeking employment.”
And their biggest challenge at the time? Bankers!
Lavigne: “Trying to convince bankers that we were going to revolutionize spine surgery was met with, ‘Good luck’ and ‘Shut the door on your way out.’ We took the next 4-5 years to get our initial products ready. One was a non-fusion technology and the other was a fusion product with our VerteBRIDGE Plating Technology; in parallel we worked on projects for the cervical and lumbar discs.”
