When Cayenne Medical (Scottsdale, AZ) was founded in 2005, its vision was to create the complete package for the knee and all soft tissue-type reconstruction. After having success with products designed for this area, the company’s goal has transformed into becoming a one-stop shop for an orthopaedic surgeon. 

“Right now when you look at Cayenne, we have excellent knee products, but if somebody hurts their shoulder, we can’t help them-they have to move into another company,” says Michael T. Gillem, vice president of sales at Cayenne Medical. “In five years, [we want to] be the company that the physician can [use to] take care of the patient from top to bottom.” In the past five years, more than 1200 surgeons have worked with Cayenne Medical’s products, which are used in 20 countries.

In 2007, the company launched its first product, the AperFix system. The soft tissue anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) PEEK implant aims to recreate native ACL kinematics as they were prior to an injury-an ultimate goal for surgeons, says Gillem. The company prides itself on the device’s ability to get professional athletes out on the field and back to their competitive state. At the time, about 60% of ACL procedures were being conducted with screws using a bone-tendon-bone approach, and 40% used soft tissue. In order to compete with the market and address physician needs, Cayenne Medical moved forward with an interference screw, called the iFix. The product was the first FDA-approved screw that was made using PEEK. The advantage of the product was its strength compared to other bioabsorbable and biocomposite interference screws, along with reducing the risk of an inflammatory reaction.

The launch of a meniscal repair device in 2009 enabled the treatment of both the ligament and the meniscus inside the knee. This product also better positioned Cayenne Medical to prepare for its expansion into other areas of the body. Gillem didn’t indicate which areas would initially be targeted, but the company’s Web site points to the shoulder as the next potential area of development.

Even within the knee, Gillem acknowledges that there is room for more work. “As a smaller company, from a market share standpoint, we have a tremendous amount of growth that we can achieve. There are some bigger companies that we’re chasing and we’re aware of it,” says Gillem. “The bad news is that we have a long way to go; the good news is that it’s wide open for us.”

Focus Going Forward

• Round out orthopaedics sports medicine franchise within the next three to five years to include the shoulders, hips, and ankles.
• Ensure that the sales team is reaching as many U.S. surgeons as possible to build a larger market share.
• Continue R&D efforts to expand product pipeline beyond treating the knee.

• November 2010: Reaches 50,000 implant milestone for products.
• July 2009: Launches CrossFix system.
• March 2009: Harvard study published in American Journal of Sport Medicine favors AperFix system over common single-bundle ACL reconstruction technique.
• March 2008: Closes on $15 million Series C financing.
• February 2008: FDA clears iFix.

• David B. Springer, president & CEO
• James W. Hart, executive
• Randal L. Buness, CFO
• Derek J. Harper, vice president of R&D
• Timothy S. Nash, vice president of marketing
• Kereshmeh Shahriari, director of quality assurance and regulatory affairs
• Michael T. Gillem, vice president of sales