Osteoporosis is the most common disease affecting the elderly population. In the United States, more than 300,000 people fracture a hip every year. Among them 30% of patients die in the following year. More than 750,000 vertebral fractures are reported, among which 250,000 are treated surgically. But about 25% of the case still follows subsequent fractures on the adjacent levels even after a treatment with the current techniques available on the market. After a second contralateral fracture, loss of autonomy is almost certain to prevent a return home. Mortality rate multiplies by 2. To address these unmet clinical needs, Hyprevention was launched.
The CEO Views team interacted with Cecile Vienney, CE0 of Hyprevention to gain a detailed insight into the company’s business story.
How Hyprevention was Born
As a mechanical engineer and medical device developer, Cecile has immense privilege of working with spine surgeons, neurosurgeons, and interventional radiologists every day. Backed by 25 years of scientific and clinical experience and profound expertise in understanding clinical needs, Cecile has developed products and solutions aiming to improve clinical outcomes.
Early in 2010, she had the chance to encounter with three renowned and experienced orthopedic and spine surgeons who were seeing more and more patients coming back to their hospital with a second hip fracture after they have been treated for the first hip fracture. To address the concern, they developed the idea of using a prophylactic implant for preventing hip fractures.
At the end of 2010, after a few months of investigation and feasibility studies, Cecile co-founded Hyprevention with the orthopedic surgeons to develop innovative implantable medical devices to reinforce weaken bone by osteoporosis or cancer.
In 2015, Hyprevention got CE marking for their hip product Y-STRUT® and in 2020 FDA clearance for V-STRUTO for spine. Subsequently, they established their first subsidiary in the US in 2021, to launch V-STRUTO Transpedicular Implant in 2022. Along the journey, they had numerous patents granted for their innovative technology.
“Never give-up! Learn every day, listen, analyze, share your thoughts, and make your best strategic choice, the ones you trust!”
Bringing Unique Products to the Market”
The products of Hyprevention are unique to the market. “More than products, we have developed the STRUTPLASTYe technology that consists in reinforcing weakened bone due to osteoporosis or cancer thanks to a polymer implant. We have selected a material close to the normal bone to reinforce it without generating unexpected extra stress, and we have designed products that perfectly fit in the patient’s anatomy” says Cecile.
Approach to Provide Clinical and Economic Benefits
Hyprevention’s scientific approach combines finite element calculation and analysis and clinical study, that clearly allows them to provide relevant data and information to the doctors, that are luckily very demanding in terms of proof of evidence. This data allows them to provide the best training in terms of patients’ selection and surgical steps to be followed, for the best product performance.
To show clinical and economic benefits for the products, the team continuously conduct clinical studies. To track product performance in real life, they collect post-market data from the users. Long-term pain relief and long-term prevention of a new fracture are their main criteria to assess the benefits of the products.
Embracing Technology
The two main trends in orthopedic care, that Hyprevention follows consciously, are robotics and Al. Both are tremendous tools to support physicians in their practice to get patient out come as high as possible. Application of robotics in orthopedic is gaining momentum and being gradually adopted and incorporated into the routine practice. While AL is still in its nascent stage in terms of usage. Hyprevention’s products are compatible with both and the team is excited to seize the opportunity.
Driving Innovation
“Innovation is in our DNA” says Cecile. “Innovation means how can I do things better. How can we propose a solution that will lead to better clinical outcomes for the patient. Our scientific approach and deep collaboration with physicians clearly guide us to understand unmet clinical needs and develop relevant solutions.”
Fostering A Collaborative Work Culture
To cultivate a culture of collaboration and cooperation, one need to encourage and create a supportive environment for the team. Speaking about their inclusive work culture, Cecile shares, “As a team, understanding what we are doing, why it makes sense and our commitment to do it well is key. We collectively aim to support our goal to care for patients, provide good quality products and share pertinent data with physicians.”
Future Vision
Technology is improving diagnostics and patientcare in every way possible. Technological innovations in healthcare have facilitated new ways to diagnose and treat patients. To keep up with the advancements, Hyprevention aims to continue promoting products with high clinical and economic benefits. Meanwhile, they plan to develop their products portfolio and expand the territory with a large international presence.
Cecile believes that entrepreneurship in the medical device field is a very long journey. Advicing the young entrepreneurs, she says, “Never give-up! Learn every day, listen, analyze, share your thoughts, and make your best strategic choice, the ones you trust!”
