SiNtx Technologies Inc (SINT)

[boston745]

A basic roadmap laid out of Zimmer's intentions for Sintx back in 2011. What follows is a list of actions taken by Zimmer, Biomet, Sintx that are consistent with what this quote lays out as well as confirmation that Silicon Nitride is one of the new generation of materials as indicated in this quote.

AnonymousMay 24, 2011 at 3:42 PM
Zimmer is looking at purchasing Amedica flat out for their techology to bolster sales in spine through licensing and to purchase the next generation of hip and knee implants. You heard it here on TSB.

1. 2012: Dr Sonny Bal joined Sintx board of directors. This gave Zimmer at least 2 board members of which it could exert influence: Dr Bal & then Chairman Dr Link. I believe Zimmer sent Dr Bal to Sintx in 2005 to aid it in developing a Hip/Knee implant as this is his expertise before Dr Bal joined the board.
2. 2013: Sintx IPO paperwork purposefully withheld the fact that Dr. Sonny Bal was still a surgeon designer for Zimmer and removed the fact Dr Link was CEO of Centerpulse when it was acquired by Zimmer. (Network Collaboration)
3. 2014: Dr Bal becomes Chairman while retaining his board seat thus Zimmmer retained the two board seats where it could influence when Dr Link stepped down due to health reasons.

Signs of development of Hip implant between Sintx and Biomet - Femoral head testing

*4. May 2015: Sintx signs a R&D agreement with an unknown party to develop Si3n4 based implants. Evidence suggests this was with Biomet and was done a month before the merger between Zimmer & Biomet closed (June 2015).
5. 2015: Sintx begins testing of its femoral head for a hip implant at University of Nebraska a location for which Biomet was already conducting testing of products. (Consistent with shared network resources). Univeristy of Nebraska indicates it received grant from Sintx.
6. Sept 2015: Dr Giuseppi Pezzotti joins Sintx Scientific Board after doing years of work for Biomet. Consistent of shared resources between collaborators.
7. 2015 10k: Together with a strategic partner Sintx has initiated various testing of its Femoral Head. The same partner that it intended on eventually commercialize with if testing goes well. Testing that started in 2015 and went into 2016. The same time period Sintx was testing at University of Nebraska.
8. 2015 10k: We are also incorporating our silicon nitride technology into components for use in total hip and knee replacement product candidates that we plan on developing in collaboration with a strategic partner.
9. Dr Bal & Zimmer Biomet CEO David Dvorak, at that time, join OREF board of trustees together.
10. 2016 10k: Its revealed that Sintx incurred payments of 270k in 2015 & 2016 which could be its cost of that grant for University of Nebraska.
11. 2016 10k: Together with a strategic partner, we have initiated biomechanical testing of our solid silicon nitride femoral heads. The results of this test will be released in 2017.
12. Feb 2017: PR announcing the testings results involving Sintx femoral head and Biomets E1 liner. Both companies supplied their Ip for testing but neither company funded the study. These are all things that are consistent with a strategic partnership that was signed in 2015 and these are the results of testing Sintx initiated with a strategic partner.

Signs of potential payment in connection to IP related to this testing.
13. Q2 2017: The quarter after the PR pertaining to the results of testing between its IP and Sintx, Zimmer Biomet paid 2.5m for Certain R&D related expenses. This is usually done to acquire IP that will not be used product development. The recipient of said funds is unknown.
14. July 2017: CEO of Sintx, through his investment company, loans Sintx the same amount (2.5m) that Zimmer paid the previous quarter. Funds were not paid to Dr Bal nor Sintx, however as Dr Bal issued this loan via his investment company, the funds could have come from a party connected to Dr Bal / Dr Pezzotti who took part in the testing and Zimmer Biomet who provided the liner and paid said funds.

Sintx becomes Sintx and fully moves to OEM/licensing business model
15. Oct 2018 Sintx sheds Amedica name and its spinal implant IP officially transitioning from a direct to customer company to that of an OEM/licensing model. Sintx grants CTL-Amedica license to use its core Si3n4 IP while CTL acquires the physical implants. This is consistent with Zimmers desire to use Sintx for licensing revenue.

Si3n4 Coating of Acetabular Liner
16. Dec. 2018: Zimmer Biomet hired Dr. Saraubh Lal a Si3n4 coatings expert who worked with European Unions Life Long Joints Project. A project that Sintx also worked with. Dr Lal was brought on to work in Zimmer Biomets Anti-pathogenic coating program in Swindon, UK.
17. 2019. Sintx publishes a study pertaining to the use of Biomets G7 Acetabular Shell coated in Si3N4. Again consistent with a hip product developed between Biomet and Sintx.
18. Aug 2023: Sintx begins a collaboration with 3D Ceram Sinto to create 3D print resins. Silicon Nitrides main drawback is modulus of elasticity making it unsuitable for femoral stem applications outside a coating for metal stems. However 3D printing would allow Sintx to create highly porous femoral stems with significantly reduced modulus of elasticity.
19. Jan 2024: Renewed interest in Si3n4 for Femoral Head and Acetabular cup.

Next Gen Hip/Knee implant materials.

20. Published 2023, this study shows that Silicon Nitride is one of 3 new generation hip implant materials. It also happens to be the closest to commercialization of the 3 non-oxide ceramic materials.

Silicon nitride, silicon carbide and diamond-like carbon as non-oxide ceramics are considered to be the new generation of materials used in hip prosthetics, particularly in the manufacture of acetabular cups, due to their excellent biocompatibility, osteointegration, and tribological and mechanical properties, but all three materials need more study. However, silicon nitride is the nearest to commercialization, through businesses such as Amedica Corp. and SyntX Technologies

Im guessing the authors meant Sintx Technologies. Amedica being the companies former name before the name was sold to CTL.


Quote Sources:

https://web.archive.org/web/20240408163612/https://spineblogger.blogspot.com/2011/05/whos-next.html?m=1
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10422432/