ARLINGTON, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Wright Medical Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: WMGI), a global orthopaedic medical device company, today announced the launch of its MiToe™ patient outreach program to increase awareness of treatment options for hammertoes. MiToe™ is now the patient-facing brand for Wright’s hammertoe solutions, which include the PRO-TOE™ VO Hammertoe Fixation System. Beginning at this week’s American Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Society (AOFAS) meeting, foot and ankle doctors will be introduced to this new initiative from Wright Medical.
As part of this initiative, Wright’s MiToe™ hammertoe program website is now live and can be accessed at www.mitoe.com.
“We are pleased to announce the launch of the MiToe™ patient outreach program, including the MiToe.com website,” stated Robert Palmisano, President and Chief Executive Officer of Wright Medical. “This patient education site, along with our planned new product launches, is part of our company’s focus on growing our foot and ankle business faster than the market rate by targeting the largest sufferers of painful hammertoes--women in their 40s to 60s. Our objective with this website launch is to educate patients and encourage them to visit a foot and ankle specialist and ask about treatment options including the MiToe™ implant.”
Hammertoes are one of the most common deformities of the lesser toes. In the U.S. alone, an estimated 500,000 surgical procedures (representing approximately 1 million toes) are performed each year to treat hammertoes.¹ Today, the majority of these hammertoes are treated with wire pins (also known as “K-wires”), but many patients complain about the inconveniences that come with the wires being exposed out the end of the toe for several weeks - from limitations in activities and shoewear to breakage and dislodgement of the wires.² Advances in implant design have made hammertoe implants, including the PRO-TOE™ VO Hammertoe Fixation System, a feasible surgical option for many people. Once inserted, the implant remains within the bone, permanently correcting the pain and deformity of hammertoes, thereby eliminating many of the complications specific to wires.
As with any surgical procedure, there are risks associated with foot surgery that a patient should discuss with his/her surgeon. These potential risks and complications with products used to treat hammertoes include infection at the incision site, pain, inflammation and swelling at implant site, allergic reaction to implant material(s), loosening or dislocation of implant resulting in revision surgery, deterioration or loss of bone, over-production of bone, blood vessel blockage, and negative bodily response due to implant rejection and/or implant wear debris. In addition, each patient’s weight, age, and medical history determine their own specific risks.
Wright Medical’s PRO-TOE™ VO Hammertoe Fixation System and other foot and ankle product solutions such as the INBONE® Total Ankle Replacement Systems, PROPHECY® INBONE® Pre-Operative Navigation Guides and CLAW® II Polyaxial Compression Plates will be on display at Wright’s exhibit booth (#101) from June 20 to 23, 2012 at the AOFAS 2012 Annual Meeting taking place at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront Hotel in San Diego, CA. Additionally, product training will be offered at Wright’s state-of-the-art mobile medical education labs during the meeting.
More information on Wright Medical’s foot and ankle products can be found at www.wmt.com/footandankle/.
About Wright Medical
Wright Medical Group, Inc. is a global orthopaedic medical device company and a leading provider of surgical solutions for the foot and ankle market. The Company specializes in the design, manufacture and marketing of devices and biologic products for extremity, hip and knee repair and reconstruction. The Company has been in business for more than 60 years and markets its products in over 60 countries worldwide. For more information about Wright Medical, visit the Company’s website at www.wmt.com.
1. “US Market for Small Bone & Joint Orthopedic Devices,” published June
2011 by iData Research Inc.
2. Coughlin M. Lesser toe deformities.
In: Surgery of the Foot and Ankle, ed 9, pp. 363-464, edited by M
Coughlin, R Mann, C Saltzman, Mosby, Philadelphia, 2007.
CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This press release contains “forward-looking statements” as defined under U.S. federal securities laws. These statements reflect management’s current knowledge, assumptions, beliefs, estimates, and expectations and express management’s current views of future performance, results, and trends and may be identified by their use of terms such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “predict,” “project,” “will,” and other similar terms. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to materially differ from those described in the forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include the impact of Wright's settlement of the federal investigation into Wright's consulting arrangements with orthopaedic surgeons relating to its hip and knee products in the United States, including Wright's compliance with a Deferred Prosecution Agreement through September 2012 and a Corporate Integrity Agreement through September 2015, and those risks and uncertainties discussed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (including those described in Item 1A of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2011, under the heading, “Risk Factors”). Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Such statements are made as of the date of this press release, and we undertake no obligation to update such statements after this date.
Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=50319681&lang=en