WARSAW, Ind., April 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Zimmer Holdings, Inc. announced today that it has entered into an agreement with the Ohio Orthopedic Surgery Institute at the Ohio Orthopedic Center of Excellence in Columbus, Ohio, to establish a Zimmer Institute location to collaborate on advancement of Minimally Invasive Solutions(TM) (MIS(TM)) Procedures and Technologies.
Under the terms of the agreement, Dr. Michael A. McShane, M.D., vice president of the Ohio Orthopedic Center of Excellence and a medical staff member of the Surgery Institute, and the Surgery Institute’s professional staff will train orthopaedic surgeons from across the nation to use Zimmer’s MIS total hip and total knee replacement technologies and participate in MIS product refinement. The location will serve as a Zimmer Institute teaching facility and will be part of a global effort to develop best practices in MIS patient care.
Dr. McShane, a member of the Ohio Joint Replacement Institute, is a board certified, fellowship trained orthopaedic surgeon specializing in total joint replacement surgery. “Dr. McShane is well respected nationally as a clinician and educator, and we are pleased he and the Ohio Orthopedic Surgery Institute will be part of the Zimmer Institute,” said Zimmer Chairman, President and CEO Ray Elliott. “The potential of MIS joint replacement is being realized in greater numbers every day. Achieving the real promise depends on training more surgeons in more places to provide patients with the benefits of minimally invasive joint replacement. We are pleased to work with Dr. McShane and the Institute to expand the number of surgeons who can offer the procedures to their patients and to refine best practices in MIS care.”
“We look forward to providing an outstanding environment to train physicians in the cutting edge technology of minimally invasive surgical procedures,” said Dr. McShane. “Our shared goal is to improve patient experiences and outcomes by encouraging the use of minimally invasive total joint replacement.”
Zimmer opened the first location of the Zimmer Institute at the Company’s headquarters in Warsaw, Indiana, in 2003. Since then, it has established partnerships with distinguished institutions, such as Johns Hopkins University in the United States, and with several international partners. The Company says this network of Zimmer Institute locations will contribute to a common pool of data and best practices, enabling each partner to benefit from the experience and developments of the others. The Company provided training for more than 1,400 surgeons in 2004 at all Zimmer Institute locations.
About the Ohio Orthopedic Center of Excellence
The Ohio Orthopedic Center of Excellence in Columbus, Ohio, is a state-of- the-art facility providing the best in orthopaedic care and outpatient surgery: total joint replacement, sports medicine, arthroscopy, hand and elbow, ankle, spine care, pain management and rehabilitation. The physicians of the Ohio Joint Replacement Institute, at the Ohio Orthopedic Center of Excellence, offer the latest in technology and experience for joint reconstruction and replacement and have years of experience diagnosing and managing degenerative joint diseases such as arthritis. The Ohio Orthopedic Surgery Institute, at the Ohio Orthopedic Center of Excellence, is a complete outpatient surgery facility offering physicians and patients a surgical setting that combines quality patient care, state-of-the-art technology and the latest in patient comfort and efficiency.
About Zimmer
Founded in 1927 and headquartered in Warsaw, Indiana, Zimmer is the worldwide #1 pure-play orthopaedic leader in designing, developing, manufacturing and marketing reconstructive and spinal implants, trauma and related orthopaedic surgical products. In October 2003, the Company finalized its acquisition of Centerpulse AG, a Switzerland-based orthopaedics company and the leader in the European reconstructive market. Zimmer has operations in more than 24 countries around the world and sells products in more than 100 countries. Zimmer’s 2004 sales were approximately $3 billion. The Company is supported by the efforts of more than 6,500 employees worldwide.
For more information, visit Zimmer at http://www.zimmer.com/ and the Ohio Orthopedic Center of Excellence at http://www.ohio-ortho.com/ .
Zimmer Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 based on current expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections about the orthopaedics industry, management’s beliefs and assumptions made by management. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of forward-looking terms such as “may,” “will,” “expects,” “believes,” “anticipates,” “plans,” “estimates,” “projects,” “targets,” “forecasts,” and “seeks” or the negative of such terms or other variations on such terms or comparable terminology. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, our ability to successfully integrate Centerpulse AG and Implex Corp., the outcome of the Department of Justice investigation announced in March 2005 and the pending informal SEC investigation of Centerpulse accounting, price and product competition, rapid technological development, demographic changes, dependence on new product development, the mix of our products and services, supply and prices of raw materials and products, customer demand for our products and services, control of costs and expenses, our ability to form and implement alliances, international growth, governmental laws and regulations affecting our U.S. and international businesses, including tax obligations and risks, product liability and intellectual property litigation losses, reimbursement levels from third-party payors, general industry and market conditions and growth rates and general domestic and international economic conditions including interest rate and currency exchange rate fluctuations. For a further list and description of such risks and uncertainties, see the disclosure materials filed by Zimmer with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Zimmer disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Readers of this document are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, since, while we believe the assumptions on which the forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, there can be no assurance that these forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate. This cautionary statement is applicable to all forward-looking statements contained in this document.
Zimmer Holdings, Inc.
CONTACT: Media: Brad Bishop, +1-574-372-4291,bradley.bishop@zimmer.com , Investors: Marc Ostermann, +1-574-371-8515,marc.ostermann@zimmer.com , or Sam Leno, +1-574-372-4790,sam.leno@zimmer.com , all of Zimmer Holdings, Inc.