LDR Spine Selects Dr. Ralph Rashbaum as Lead Clinician for Cervical Artificial Disc Study
Co-Founder of Texas Back Institute to Anchor Clinical Team for Second-Generation Artificial Disc FDA Study

Austin, TX - November 1, 2005
LDR Spine, a total spine solution company, today announced it has named Dr. Ralph Rashbaum, M.D. of the Texas Back Institute as the lead clinical investigator for its cervical artificial disc IDE study. This announcement follows the company’s recent IDE (Investigational Device Exemption) submission for the clinical investigation that is required by the FDA before the disc can be distributed or sold in the United States.

“In my practice at the Texas Back Institute, we see many patients that can benefit from artificial disc implantation under the right circumstances,” said Dr. Rashbaum. “The Mobi-C is designed to be implanted just like a cervical cage and utilizes the same basic approach. The instrumentation is simple and elegant. Most importantly, the mobile bearing design may provide for some latitude in the placement of the device.”

“We are honored to have a surgeon as well-known and respected as Dr. Rashbaum,” said Steve Whitlock, CEO of LDR Spine. “His agreement to participate as our lead clinician is emblematic of the strong enthusiasm Mobi-C is generating in the spine surgeon community. The mobile bearing technology, overall design, and comprehensive instrumentation could potentially make the whole surgical process easier for surgeons.”

The Mobi-C device is limited to investigational use and not yet available for distribution in the United States.

About Dr. Rashbaum
Ralph Rashbaum, M.D. is the lead clinician for the Mobi-C® cervical artificial disc clinical study. He is a board-certified orthopedic surgeon with specialization in the spine and is co-founder of the Texas Back Institute, the largest freestanding spine specialty clinic in the United States. Dr. Rashbaum, an Assistant Clinical Professor at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas, is also a published author. He received his Doctor of Medicine degree from the Chicago Medical School in 1968, performed his surgical residency at Strong Memorial Hospital, and completed his orthopedic surgical residency at Case Western Reserve and University Hospitals.

About LDR Spine
LDR Spine supplies U.S. surgeons with innovative spinal solutions in partnership with LDR Medical of Troyes, France. LDR Spine works closely with surgeons to develop implantable systems and instrumentation that restore optimum stability and mobility to patients, and make spine surgery more reproducible and easier to perform. More information is located at www.ldrspine.com.

About Path4 Ventures
Founded in 2004, Path4 Ventures LLC is a management-centric venture capital company based in Austin, Texas. The company identifies, creates and develops opportunities in the healthcare industry utilizing a "hands-on" management style by taking an active role in the technologies and opportunities in which it invests. More information is available at www.path4ventures.com.

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