Centinel Spine®, LLC, named for the radiographic confirmation of a successful fusion anterior to an interbody device, “Sentinel Sign”, has sold its STALIF® and other fusion products business to Swiss–based Silony Medical International for an undisclosed amount.
The STALIF family of fusion products, which were developed by Centinel Spine’s predecessor firm, UK-based Surgicraft, founded in 1982, are based on the then revolutionary titanium Hartshill Horseshoe. When it was first commercialized in 1988, it was the first Stand-Alone/No Profile® anterior lumbar interbody fusion device in the world.
Surgicraft and later Centinel Spine, under the leadership of John Viscogliosi along with his brothers Anthony and Marc and the teams they developed, created generations of the market-leading Integrated Interbody™ technology products.
Branded as STALIF with improvements over the years, the technology stands on 35+ years of clinical history and more than 100,000 implantations worldwide.
“We are proud of the progress our Centinel Spine team accomplished in building and advancing our fusion business. The STALIF products and expertise moving to Silony Medical will be a valuable addition to their global business,” said Centinel Spine CEO Steve Murray.
“Silony Medical’s strong focus on the development and manufacture of fusion implants and instruments will enable their business to expand and meet its potential in a focused environment.”
“The STALIF portfolio and additional spinal fusion products Silony Medical is acquiring from Centinel Spine will be a welcome and strategic addition to our portfolio,” said Silony Medical’s CEO Constantin Schöen.
“These are proven and trusted devices with an established presence around the world. Combined with Silony’s current portfolio, we extend our commitment to provide effective solutions for daily surgical practice.”
“In addition to technology,” added Schöen, “Silony will welcome a team of professionals from Centinel Spine whose expertise in the anterior fusion market advances patient care every day. The Silony team is committed to successful long-term relationships, and we look forward to continuing to work with the established STALIF distributor and surgeon partners around the world.”
Centinel Spine is selling all cervical and lumbar fusion products—including the STALIF technology platform and expects to close the transaction within 30-45 days from the announcement. Terms were not disclosed.
Who Is Silony Medical?
Silony Medical is the Swiss-based supplier of a wide variety of spinal implants and instruments.
Established in 2013 by the internationally renowned hospital group, Schön Clinic, in Germany, Silony Medical is a market disrupter aiming to change the status quo of how product manufacturers partner with hospital systems. Silony Medical curates and designs spinal hardware and tools that provide surgeons and hospitals with high-value product solutions that are highly compatible with enabling technologies.
Its U.S. offices are in Doral, Florida and Silony’s CEO is Constantin Schöen
The Schöen family owns the famous Schöen Klinik Gruppe, the largest family-run hospital group in Germany, which was founded in 1985. The Schöen Klinik has 30 locations in both Germany and England and treats around 300,000 patients each year.
In addition to Silony Medical, Apollon SE has also invested in three other suppliers of orthopedic and orthotic products—Orthopädietechnik München Harlaching, Orthopädietechnik Chiemgau in Vogtareuth and Orthopädietechnik Hamburg and Orthopädietechnik Neustadt.
Each investment, I imagine, is complimentary and synergistic with the Schöen Klinik as well as strong independent suppliers in their own right.
Into this broad-based organization, Centinel’s STALIF and fusion family of technologies will, no doubt, contribute significantly.
Centinel Spine’s Strategic Move to be the #1 Motion Preservation Supplier in Spine
Commenting on the sale of his company’s fusion products to Silony, Centinel’s CEO, Steve Murray said, “This divestiture allows Centinel Spine to focus exclusively on total disc replacement and expand our leadership in this rapidly growing market.”
Centinel Spine’s 2022 prodisc® TDR revenue approached $45 million, a record for the company.
Today, Centinel Spine holds the #2 market share in cervical and lumbar total disc arthroplasty in the U.S. but is #1 in worldwide lumbar total disc arthroplasty revenue.
The company’s prodisc TDR business continues to accelerate in 2023 and grew 50% in the first half of the year—driven primarily by the September 2022 limited release of the new prodisc C Vivo and prodisc C SK cervical TDR system in the U.S. and strong global demand for Centinel’s lumbar prodisc total disc arthroplasty.
Centinel’s Back to the Future Moment
Centinel Spine began operations in 2008 through the merger-acquisition of Raymedica, LLC and Surgicraft, LTD.
Founded in 1990, Raymedica was a pioneer in disc motion technologies and brought to market a nucleus replacement technology called PDN—Prosthetic Disc Nucleus—which helped thousands of patients around the world to restore function.
Raymedica was founded by and named after a legendary surgeon and innovator, Charles Ray, M.D. Here is his profile.
Anthony Viscogliosi was the chairman of RayMedica in those days and he, along with his brothers Marc and John, pioneered the entire category of motion preservation. The brothers famously acquired the rights to another early motion preservation technology—prodisc—and despite nearly overwhelming odds—shepherded the technology through the FDA’s PMA process.
Spine Solutions, LLC, the company founded by the V-Brothers for prodisc was acquired by Synthes in 2003 for $350 million. In 2006, Synthes launched prodisc. Since then second and third generation disc arthroplasty products have been approved by the FDA.
In 2012, Johnson & Johnson acquired Synthes and in 2018, sold prodisc back to the Viscogliosi brothers and Centinel Spine, a VB portfolio company, added prodisc to its line of spinal implant and instrumentation products.
Centinel invested heavily in the prodisc® franchise—which at the time it was acquired was already the most extensive cervical and lumbar motion-preserving reconstruction portfolio available on the market. Today, prodisc is the only spine arthroplasty technology with multiple solutions for both cervical and lumbar anterior column reconstruction.
It is also the most studied and clinically proven TDR system across the globe, validated by over 540 published papers and 240,000 implantations worldwide.
Finally, prodisc is a three-time Spine Technology Award winner.
All in all, after 41 years and so many contributors, twists and turns, Centinel Spine returns to a singular focus—indeed, Tony, Marc, and John’s vision all those years ago—of making motion preservation a foundational part of surgical spine care.
