How The Technology Was Developed

The story behind HAPPE Spine begins with Dr. Ryan Roeder and his twenty-year fascination with the material that makes up our bones.

After completing his Ph.D. in material science and engineering in 1999, Dr. Roeder pursued his interest in biomedical work through post-doctoral research at the Indiana University School of Medicine in their Department of Orthopedic Surgery. It was here that he first became intrigued with bone as a unique, living, and adaptable material.

In 2001, Dr. Roeder joined the faculty of Notre Dame in the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, where he continued his research in bone mechanics, fractures, osteoporosis, and bone disease. This lead to an interest in orthopedic biomedical materials and how they interact, integrate, and replace bone in an implant.

Dr. Roeder began investigating the reinforcing of polymer constructs with hydroxyapatite clusters and ended up with a cancellous-structured polymer, which has exposed hydroxyapatite throughout the material. This process produced a very bone-friendly or body-friendly material that both wicks and integrates itself into the osteo structure.

Dr. Roeder began to develop the technology through the organization that he started, Spinesmith. But when they tried to gain interest within the industry, they ran into many different groups that didn’t feel that the scale-up was possible. Also, they didn’t have the right relationships to be able to create a viable commercial product out of this research technology.

Enter Genesis Innovation Group

In July 2018, Genesis Innovation Group announced the formation of HAPPE Spine, LLC. Genesis, along with cultivate(MD) Capital Funds made the investments into HAPPE Spine

This was an ideal opportunity for Genesis to step into because the Genesis team has decades of experience and knowledge across the industry, they’re able to leverage that with business partners, supply partners, vendors, and manufacturers to make this a viable product.

It’s really the vision that has come out of the Genesis team that allows this technology to be commercially brought to market.

Genesis has the ability to create those relationships to not only scale up the manufacturing but also generate the right marketed instrument solution and implant solution to bring this technology to the broader market.