Tell us about yourself and your company.
My career spans over 25 years in medtech, split between operational roles in labs and sales and 15 years on Wall Street as an equity analyst covering the sector. That dual perspective shapes how I lead Bone Biologics. We are a clinical-stage company focused on orthobiologics for spinal fusion, addressing a critical gap in bone regeneration. Traditional bone grafts are passive scaffolds, meaning outcomes vary widely, especially in hard-to-heal patients like smokers, diabetics, and obese individuals. Our lead product, NB-1, utilizes a proprietary protein called NELL-1 that actively signals the body to form bone only where existing bone is present, minimizing the severe swelling and off-target bone growth seen with older biologics. We are currently running a 30-subject pilot study in Australia to support our FDA regulatory pathway toward a U.S. pivotal study.
What is one lesson or piece of advice you would share with other leaders or founders?
Focus on solving one hard problem exceptionally well before beginning to scale. NELL-1 has potential applications across multi-billion-dollar markets in trauma and osteoporosis, but chasing every opportunity at once destroys operational discipline. We chose to start with spinal fusion because the spine is one of the most challenging biological environments in the body for bone to heal. If you can prove safety and efficacy in the hardest clinical cases, you create a validated foundation that naturally pulls your platform into broader indications.
How is innovation, AI, or technology shaping your business today?
In medtech, true innovation is about solving complex biology while keeping physical adoption as simple as possible for the clinician. The scientific innovation of NELL-1 lies in its targeted mechanism of action: it upregulates Runx2, the primary controller of bone formation, so it only activates in the presence of bone cells and avoids triggering local inflammation. Operationally, we use modern data tools to optimize drug stability and streamline clinical trial data across study sites. But in the operating room, we intentionally keep technology low-friction. Our convenience kit lets surgeons prepare NB-1 during their standard graft hydration routine without changing their surgical workflow.
Where do you see the biggest opportunities in your space over the next few years?
Right now, there are an estimated 1.5 million spinal surgeries performed each year in the United States, so that is where we are directing all our clinical resources today. The spine is one of the toughest places in the human body to get bone to heal, so as we prove NELL-1 works there in the $3.0 billion spinal fusion market, it opens the door to other major orthopedic uses. Our long-term vision extends beyond the spine. We own the technology rights for trauma, an $8 billion market where NELL-1 could help heal severe fractures and complex bone injuries, as well as osteoporosis, an $11 billion market where preclinical studies in mice showed that systemic delivery triggered impressive new bone formation. As we validate our approach in spinal fusion, our goal is to build on those clinical results and expand our targeted biology to improve patient outcomes across broader orthopedic applications.
What advice would you give to leaders trying to adopt new technology without losing focus?
Technology should always serve your strategy, never dictate it. It is easy to get caught up in the hype surrounding the latest tools, but in medtech, every single adoption decision has to come down to practical value. Ask yourself if a tool actually speeds up clinical trial enrollment, improves your data quality, simplifies your regulatory pathway with the FDA, or strengthens product stability. Beyond internal operations, you also must protect the clinician’s workflow. If an innovation makes your end product harder to use in the operating room, it is going to fail regardless of how advanced it sounds on paper. If a tool does not directly clear a path to your immediate clinical milestones or help protect your capital, cut it out as noise. Keep your focus locked on your core clinical thesis, direct your resources toward target execution, and let your actual business goals determine what technology makes the cut.
