After the 2002 merger, he held the position of CFO and member of the Executive Committee of IsoTis SA, which became IsoTis OrthoBiologics after the subsequent merger with US-based GenSci OrthoBiologics in late 2003. In January 2004, Pieter Wolters relocated to the US, and on 1st July 2004, he succeeded Jacques Essinger Ph.D, as CEO of IsoTis OrthoBiologics.

OPN: With your transition to the CEO position, what changes can we expect?
PW: We were and remain dedicated to building a sustainable independent and profitable business in the fastest growing segment of orthopaedic surgery; orthobiologics.

IsoTis Orthobiologics has a clear business plan that was initiated late 2003. We will continue to execute our plan, and will make any fine-tuning necessary to ensure we meet our goals.

OPN: Is IsoTis placing a new focus on the US?
PW: The focus as such is not new. The US represents over two thirds of the WW Orthobiologics market and motivated the recent consolidation of our Manufacturing and R&D to the US. Following the IsoTis/GenSci OrthoBiologics merger in October 2003, the need for an increased US management focus was clearly identified, and I relocated to Irvine, CA, from The Netherlands.

My transition to CEO further reinforces this commitment and should be seen as a natural progression. With that said, the legal status of the company remains that it is a Swiss company (hence the “SA”) and that its shares are publicly traded on the stock exchanges of Zürich, Amsterdam and Toronto. The Swiss operation includes the International Sales & Marketing, Investor Relations as well as some supportive functions.

OPN: How will this focus become manifest in the marketplace?
PW: Jacques Essinger had already made a significant contribution by spending a considerable amount of his time in the US marketplace building the new IsoTis OrthoBiologics. I will consolidate our US management focus and the company will continue to increase its field presence.

Already in 2004, we increased the number of US regional sales managers to five and recently doubled our field presence with newly appointed Orthobiologics Specialists in each region. Internationally we consolidated Sales and Marketing to Switzerland and to-date, have more than doubled the number of international countries in which we are active.

OPN: Will you continue your strategy to sell exclusively through the independent distributor network?
PW: The independent distributors remain the key distribution channel for IsoTis in the US. We increased the support to this network further with the recent addition of the OrthoBiologics Specialists, who are essential to train and educate our distribution network on our expanding product range.

OPN: How is IsoTis OrthoBiologics different from your main competitors?
PW: Historically our competitors only offer one technology; either demineralized one matrix (DBM) or synthetic bone graft substitutes. The “traditional standard” is bone autograft (bone from the same patient) because it offers the 3 essential elements of bone formation: it’s osteogenic, osteoconductive and osteoinductive.

IsoTis OrthoBiologics’ strategy is to offer surgeons composite bone grafting from the range of products we offer. Our osteoinductive DBM materials comprise both first generation products (up to 40% DBM content) which most of our competitors offer, and 2nd generation products (70% to 100% DBM derived). This offers the surgeon a choice of products with increasing “proportional inductivity”.

Our synthetic materials offer the surgeon the choice of faster or slower resorbing materials depending on the clinical indication. When combined with osteogenic bone marrow aspirate, these products can be mixed to form a bone graft composite which closely mimics natural bone. This is a unique comprehensive offering in today’s competitive landscape.

OPN: What about your product pipeline?
PW: Four new products will be launched this year, and more are lined up for 2005. Between our internal R&D team and our research collaboration with the University of Twente, we have a sound foundation and ample opportunity to develop further new technologies in-house.

Our strong balance sheet and cash position will allow for an accelerated expansion of our product offering, if we find the right opportunities. We believe we have a strong pipeline of products for the years to come, in addition to the four new products we will launch in 2004.