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| For Immediate Release |
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| Irvine's Freedom Innovations is on the leading edge of advances in the prosthetics field. |
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Irvine, Calif. (March 27, 2004) - Freedom Innovations In the News:
The following story appeared March 27th in the Orange County Register on the front page of the Business Section:
By JAN NORMAN
The Orange County Register
For Kelly McGuire of Lake Forest, the very act of shoe shopping was a stinging reminder that she had lost her right leg to cancer 14 years ago.
"I was in Off Broadway looking for flats," she recalled, "and they had all these beautiful high heels. I used to wear stilettos, and I got sad that I can't wear heels anymore."
In February, McGuire's prosthetist asked if she wanted to try the new ultralight Runway prosthetic foot by Irvine-based Freedom Innovations, which could be adjusted to permit the wearing of shoes with up to 2 1/2-inch heels.
"I was so excited that I went out the first weekend (after getting the foot) and bought six pairs of high heels," McGuire said as she pushed a button at the side of the foot to adjust from the flat to the angled position.
Freedom Innovations was founded in 2002 to challenge some of the accepted design beliefs regarding lower-limb prosthetics manufacturing in order to combine comfort, light weight, high performance and attractiveness in one foot. Its products are based on the carbon-fiber-based inventions of Utah engineer Roland Christensen.
In McGuire's case, "previously if you wanted a high heel, it was uncomfortable but you'd live with it," said Freedom Innovations President Richard Myers. "This (Runway) offers a fusion of fashion and function."
MAJOR CAUSES FOR LIMB LOSS
Each year about 185,000 Americans have an arm or leg amputated. The risk of losing a limb increases with age, and behavior such as smoking, lack of exercise and improper nutrition add to the risk. The following were the direct causes of limb (either leg or arm) loss in 1996, the latest data available.
The number of cases per 10,000 people:
Dysvascular disease: 4.6
Diabetes mellitus*: 54.0
Trauma: 0.6
Bone and joint cancer: 0.04
*number of cases per 10,000 people with this disease
Source: National Limb Loss Information Center
AT A GLANCE
Freedom Innovations Headquarters:
7 Studebaker, Irvine
Manufacturing facility: Fayette, Utah
(888) 818-6777
www.freedom-innovations.comFounded: 2002
Officers: Roland Christensen, chief executive and inventor; Richard Myers, president; James Gordon, director of operations.
Designs, makes and sells prosthetic feet, with the goal of making them lightweight, comfortable and high-performance
Products: Freedom all-purpose prosthetics, Runway for high-heel and boot wearers, Renegade for athletes, Ski Foot for skiers
Employees: 12 in Irvine, 30 to 40 in Utah
Distribution: North America and 13 other countries
Shortly after its launch, Freedom Innovations, which has six patents and five more pending, faced a patent-infringement challenge from Ossur, based in Iceland with American headquarters in Aliso Viejo, one of the largest prosthetics makers. That lawsuit was settled out of court in December for undisclosed terms involving cross-licensing agreements.
The lawsuit is indicative of the competitiveness in this niche $2 billion industry serving an estimated 1.2 million U.S. amputees and perhaps 500,000 more worldwide.
About 185,000 Americans each year lose a limb (100,000 of them a lower limb), and the market may grow with the increased incidence of diabetes and vascular disease, said Tyler Wilson, executive director of the American Orthotic & Prosthetic Association.
However, the direct customers in this industry are the 6,000 U.S. prosthetists who recommend and fit artificial limbs to their patients. Freedom Innovations, which recently moved from Corona to Irvine, has two major competitors and four or five lesser ones, Myers said.
He wouldn't disclose Freedom Innovation's sales other than to say it has been profitable since its first year. Publicly traded Ossur had 2003 sales of $94.5 million.
One of Freedom Innovations' first clients was former Orange County businessman Ron Harding. He lost both legs in a traffic accident in 1978.
"As an amputee, I'm always looking for someone who can help me a little more," Harding said. "My prosthetist called me and said he had a foot he wanted me to try. I agreed and when I got them, I thought, 'Gee whiz. This is like the ones I lost.' "
Harding, who is a ski instructor, also used Freedom Innovations' special Ski Foot.
Since then, the company has hired him to head its amputee advocate program, an industry first. Harding works with athletes, such as Jeremy Burleson, Roderick Greene and Wardell Swann, who will compete in this summer's Paralympics in Athens, Greece. But he also sometimes sits at the bedside of a diabetes patient facing foot amputation to give living testimony that post-amputation life can be active.
Freedom Innovations applies the information it receives from amputees to its research and development, Myers said, declining for competitive reasons to give specifics on its next products.
"How do engineers know what amputees need?" Myers asked. "This program makes sure we have an array of amputees in different situations and lifestyles to make sure their needs are heard.
"We think that using smart materials and different mechanics, we can address more needs, for instance if you want to run and wear high heels (at the same time)," Myers added. "Or what about walking on grass, then concrete. There are varying forces that make (amputees) unstable and sore."
But the company isn't just looking at its next product, he said.
"We look at whether we can sponsor (an amputee) if insurance doesn't cover (prosthetics). Ron fit a couple of people in Mexico while on a mission," he said. "This isn't as much a job as it is a calling."
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CONTACT US: (714) 796-7927 or jnorman@ocregister.com
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