NASS Panel Revisits Medtronic Infuse Bone Graft Controversy

A panel at the North American Spine Society (NASS) meeting in Chicago, IL, revisited a controversy that dates back nearly 15 years surrounding Medtronic’s Infuse bone graft, which contains a recombinant version of bone morphogenetic protein-2 (rhBMP-2). The timing of Wednesday’s panel session, “The Biologic Hasn’t Changed but the Evidence Has,” was interesting given Medtronic was already gearing up to announce on Thursday that FDA has signed off on a new Infuse trial that could lead to the product being cleared for a new indication. “It was interesting to see the progression of thinking over time laid out as more and more data comes to bear on the question and it was done in a very academic way, but it was good to see it,” Brett Knappe, VP and general manager of Medtronic’s biologics business, told MD+DI in an interview at NASS soon after the panel session. “I felt like most of the panelists were truly making an effort to be unbiased and data-oriented and that plays to our strength, so I was happy to see that.” Knappe also talked about his key takeaways from the panel discussion, which we’ll share further down in this story, under the subhead “Key Takeaways from the BMP Panel.” Medtronic also issued a public statement about the Infuse panel Wedne...
Source: MDDI - Category: Medical Devices Authors: Tags: Orthopedics Source Type: news