Allen Chang, the founder of Vertera Spine, a company focused on developing medical devices with advanced functional surface technologies for spine applications, was named to the Forbes 2016 “30 Under 30” list in the Manufacturing and Industry sector.
Background
Forbes “30 under 30” awardees represent a new generation of entrepreneurs and innovators that are pushing the boundaries in their respective industries by taking disruptive approaches to solve difficult problems. For his part Allen Chang was one of 600 selected across 20 sectors from a pool of over 15,000 candidates.
Chang serves as an inventor on Vertera Spine’s novel biomaterial, Scoria™. Scoria is a porous surface technology made entirely out of polyetherether ketone (PEEK) that was developed to address the clinical need for fusion devices that better osseointegrate while still remaining cost-effective. Unlike surface treatments that are coated onto devices, Scoria is grown directly out of the solid PEEK material creating a seamless surface-to-solid material interface that is more durable than metal coatings and reportedly two times stronger in shear than trabecular bone.
Vertera says new results on the Scoria technology will be presented at the upcoming Selby Spine Conference on January 15th in Park City, Utah.
Comments
“I’m honored to be included in this extraordinary group of talented people. I’m also grateful for the opportunity to work at Vertera Spine with a team of passionate engineers, scientists, clinicians and business people,” said Mr. Chang. “With PEEK Scoria, we are solving the PEEK-bone integration problem while exploring other innovative approaches to improve clinical outcomes for spine patients. We have come a long way since founding the company over 2 years ago, and I am looking forward to seeing what we can achieve as we develop additional product lines in spine and beyond.”
Source: Vertera Spine, Inc.