Safe Group Announces Strategic Agreements with Wenzel Spine

• Distribution agreement in USA between Wenzel Spine and Safe Orthopaedics
• Manufacturing agreement between Wenzel Spine and Safe Medical

Eragny-sur-Oise, France, October 3^rd, 2022, 17h45 CET – Safe (FR0013467123 – ALSAF), a company specializing in the design, manufacturing, and marketing of single-use technologies for spinal surgeries, announces the signature of a distribution agreement of Safe Orthopaedics products in the USA by Wenzel Spine and a manufacturing agreement between Wenzel Spine and Safe Medical. The companies have also initiated strategic discussions to maximize business synergies.

Wenzel Spine is a medical technology and services company focused on providing minimally invasive surgical and diagnostic solutions for the treatment of spinal disorders such as the S-LIF Procedure using VariLift®-LX and S-ACDF using VariLift®-C. These stand-alone lumbar and cervical fusion procedures are true MIS alternatives to a more traditional approach to spine fusion, which necessitate the use of supplemental fixation such as rods, screws, or plates. VariLift-LX is the only FDA-cleared posterior stand-alone lumbar interbody fusion device on the market that requires significantly less hardware to promote fusion while prioritizing healthy anatomy preservation. For the right patient, these procedures may be an ideal solution for hospital outpatient and Ambulatory Surgery Center (ASCs) environments.

Wenzel Spine’s solutions have been used by over 300 surgeons in 39 states across the USA. With access to over 2,000 hospitals and ASCs and supported by a strong distribution network, Wenzel Spine has seen outpatient revenue climb 196% post-COVID.

With a shared vision to bring more unique treatment options to surgeons and their patients, Wenzel Spine and Safe Orthopaedics will immediately begin distributing the Safe Orthopaedics ready-to-use technologies (MIS pedicle screws and vertebral augmentation technologies) and Wenzel Spine implants throughout the USA.

In parallel, Safe Medical will support the design of ready-to-use technologies and manufacturing of Wenzel Spine products. The products will be produced in the CIPI* in Fleurieux-sur-l’Arbresle offering machining, finishing, and packaging industrial services.

Wenzel Spine and Safe Group have also initiated strategic discussions to maximize business synergies:

• Wenzel Spine’s diagnostic and surgical planning technology solutions allow for the combined evaluation of Safe Group’s SORA technology which offers surgery online assistance, assisted selection of implants and instruments, and automatic replenishment. The combination of these technologies provides the opportunity to offer a ‘next-practice’ surgical platform to surgeons, distributors, and facilities.
• Wenzel Spine technologies are currently only available in the USA. Optimizing the cost of technologies with Safe Medical and developing ready-to-use instrument sets for Wenzel Spine’s implants will help to initiate distribution throughout Europe.

"We are excited about the opportunity to partner with Safe Group on multiple fronts as we look to expand Wenzel Spine’s reach within the ASC, outpatient, and acute care markets in the USA and abroad.” said William Wilson, Co-Founder and CEO of Wenzel Spine. "As we continue to accelerate our growth, especially in the outpatient fusion market, Safe’s ready-to-use solutions and applications with Wenzel’s products will increase the value of our technology and service offerings to our clients and most importantly their patients.”

Pierre Dumouchel, Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO of Safe Group, adds "I’m pleased to announce our new partnership with Wenzel Spine. The alignment of our vision and technologies will allow our US sales teams to offer unique solutions to our clients for better treatment of their patients, especially in the rapidly growing ambulatory or outpatient environment. Starting with distribution and manufacturing agreements, we expect to accelerate our short-term sales growth and financial performance. We will continue to analyze mid-term options to maximize synergies between Wenzel and Safe.”

Financial Agenda:
Q4 sales and S1 financial results on Wednesday October 5^th.

About Wenzel Spine, Inc.
Wenzel Spine, Inc. is a medical technology and services company focused on providing minimally invasive solutions for the treatment of spinal disorders. Headquartered in Austin, TX, Wenzel Spine is focused on delivering surgical solutions that improve the overall quality of spine care by simplifying procedures and reducing recovery time. Wenzel Spine seeks to improve patient quality of life by designing and producing devices of the highest quality to support our surgeon clients in the care and treatment of their patients.

For more information about the company and products, visit www.wenzelspine.com.

About Safe Group
Safe Group is a French medical technology group that brings together Safe Orthopaedics, a pioneer in ready-to-use technologies for spine pathologies, and Safe Medical (formerly LCI Medical), a medical device subcontractor for orthopaedic surgery. The group employs approximately 150 people.

Safe Orthopaedics develops and manufactures kits combining sterile implants and single-use instruments, available at any time to the surgeon. These technologies are part of a minimally invasive approach aimed at reducing the risks of contamination and infection, in the interest of the patient and with a positive impact on hospitalization times and costs. Protected by 18 patent families, SteriSpineTM kits are CE marked and FDA approved. Safe Orthopaedics is headquartered in the Paris region (95610 Eragny-sur-Oise) and has subsidiaries in the United Kingdom, Germany, the United States, and the Lyon region (Fleurieux-sur-l'Arbresle).

For more information: http://www.safeorthopaedics.com/

Safe Medical produces implantable medical devices and ready-to-use instruments. It has an innovation center and two production sites in France (Fleurieux-sur-l'Arbresle, 69210) and in Tunisia, offering numerous industrial services: design, industrialization, machining, finishing and sterile packaging. Supported by the French stimulus plan in 2020, the company invests in additive printing and will be operational in 2022 on this new technology.

For more information: http://www.safemedical.fr/

Contacts 

Wenzel Spine
William Wilson
Chief Executive Officer
512-469-6066
info@wenzelspine.com

Safe Group                                                                                                                
François-Henri Reynaud                   
Chief Financial and Administrative Officer                 
Tél. : +33 (0)1 34 21 50 00                             

investors@safeorthopaedics.com

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• 20221003_PR-WenzelSafe vDef