About Us
Tetrous, Inc. is a regenerative medicine company guided by a team of influential surgeons and regenerative medicine scientists, and led by experienced medical device executives. We utilize next generation advanced technologies for enthesis repair in sports medicine applications. The first offering in the EnFix family of products is EnFix RC™ for rotator cuff repair.
Tetrous was conceived from technology developed for spine surgery. We are employing and expanding the technology for novel applications in sports medicine. Our core technology has been used in nearly 100,000 surgeries in spine applications by TheraCell. We hold an exclusive license to the technology for use in sports medicine.
Leadership Team
Bradley E. Patt, PhD
Cofounder, CEO, and Chairman of the Board
Bradley E. Patt, PhD
Cofounder, CEO, and Chairman of the Board
Dr. Patt is cofounder Chairman and CEO of Tetrous which was spun out of TheraCell in 2019 before TheraCell was sold to ISTO Biologics in April of 2022.
Brad has over 40 years experience as an entrepreneur and executive manager. He has led several enterprises in the x-ray and gamma-ray imaging space as well as over the past 15 years in the orthopedic space from start-up phase through rapid growth and merger and acquisitions.
Brad founded several high tech ventures since 1997, several of which he led to successful exits including Radiant Detector Technologies, an x-ray detector company sold to Seiko in 2005; DxRay Inc., an x-ray imaging company sold to Rapiscan Systems, an OSI Company in 2017; and TheraCell Inc., a spine allograft company that was sold to ISTO Biologics in April 2022.
Brad is currently also cofounder and Chairman of DermOQ, Inc., an oxygen skin care company; EVO Worldwide, Inc. and spin off Smart Breast Corp., a leader in sales of molecular breast imaging systems addressing breast cancer detection in dense breast patients; and Hyvida Brands, a functional beverage startup. Brad also founded and is a Director of Thrive Outside the Box, a nonprofit organization that identifies and develops areas of talent in individuals on the autistic spectrum.
Brad is an internationally recognized authority in the field of medical imaging with over one hundred scientific papers and presentations, several book chapters, and over 20 patents. He has been an invited speaker at several international conferences. He has held elected positions on the IEEE Nuclear Medicine Instrumentation Steering Committee (NMISC) and the IEEE Radiation Instrumentation Steering Committee (RISC), and was appointed to the Program Committee of the SPIE Medical applications of Penetrating Radiation, acting as Chairman of the Penetrating Radiation Work Group for 2003 and 2004. Dr. Patt is a consultant to the National Institutes of Health and the recipient of over $15 million dollars of grant awards as Principal Investigator from the National Institutes of Health, The United States Department of Energy and NASA.
Andrew J. Carter, PhD
Director & Technology Management
Andrew J. Carter, PhD
Director & Technology Management
Andy is cofounder and Director of Tetrous, a spinoff from TheraCell where he was Chief Technology Officer. Andy has more than 30 years leadership experience in the medical device industry and is an expert in orthobiologics, orthopaedics, and biomaterials with more than 50 US patents. He is also cofounder and Chief Technology Officer of DermOQ, a TheraCell spinoff company.
Andy is also Adjunct Associate Professor at the Prince of Wales Clinical School, UNSW, Sydney, Australia. Previous experience includes being the founder and President of Accent Biomedical, a provider of innovation services, and Chief Technology Officer at Anika Therapeutics, NASDAQ listed developer of hyaluronic acid based products for orthopedics, ophthalmics and aesthetic dermatology. Prior to this he was Vice President R&D and General Manager at Spine Wave Inc. a Connecticut based start up spine company. There he was responsible for development of injectable nucleus replacement and other motion preserving technologies. Andy spent over twenty years at Smith & Nephew, both in the US and UK. As Group Director of R&D at Smith & Nephew Endoscopy in Boston, USA he led 80+ engineers developing implants, RF and mechanical resection systems, fluid management systems for arthroscopy and endoscopy applications. He also led the company’s successful efforts to improve the effectiveness of the product development process. As Program Manager for Orthopedics and Endoscopy and Head of Materials Research at Smith & Nephew’s Group Research Center in York, UK he formulated and led long term research programs in orthopedics, spine and endoscopy, setting up joint ventures in tissue engineering and collaborative research programs with numerous universities.
John Bojanowski
Sales and Marketing Management
John Bojanowski
Sales and Marketing Management
John is leading the commercial activities for Tetrous, Inc.
With 30+ years of global executive experience in sports medicine and digital health, John is Managing Director of Launch Health Partners (LHP) focused on companies that are planning for or have recently entered their commercial stage. Prior to LHP, John served as President of Clear Arch Health, a division of MobileHelp, (recently acquired by Advocate Aurora Enterprises for $290M). John has led exits as CEO of Lantos Technologies (by private investor), Executive Vice President of Sales at Scandius BioMedical (by Covidien – now Medtronic) and Vice President of Corporate Sales at US Surgical (by Tyco Healthcare – now Medtronic). Additionally, John was Vice President of U.S. Sales for Smith & Nephew. He currently serves as a mentor for German Accelerator.
Board of Directors
Bradley E. Patt, PhD
Chairman of the Board & Management
Bradley E. Patt, PhD
Chairman of the Board & Management
Dr. Patt is cofounder chairman of Tetrous.
Brad has over 40 years experience as an entrepreneur and executive manager. He has led several enterprises from start-up phase through rapid growth and merger and acquisitions.
Brad founded several high tech ventures since 1997. He is currently co-founder chairman and CEO of TheraCell and DermOQ. Previously he was co-founder, CEO and Chairman of Gamma Medica, Inc. Brad built Gamma to market leadership position in preclinical CT, PET, SPECT imaging and is inventor and developer of Molecular Breast Imaging for detecting otherwise occult breast cancer in densebreasted women.
Brad is currently cofounder and Chairman of DermOQ, Inc., an oxygen skin care company; EVO Worldwide, Inc. and spin off Smart Breast Corp., medical diagnostic imaging systems companies; and Hyvida Brands, a functional beverage startup. He is a director of High Beauty a cannabis cosmetic company. Brad also founded and is a Director of Thrive Outside the Box, a nonprofit organization that identifies and develops areas of talent in individuals on the autistic spectrum.
Brad is an internationally recognized authority in the field of medical imaging with over one hundred scientific papers and presentations, several book chapters, and over 20 patents. He has been an invited speaker at several international conferences. He has held elected positions on the IEEE Nuclear Medicine Instrumentation Steering Committee (NMISC) and the IEEE Radiation Instrumentation Steering Committee (RISC), and was appointed to the Program Committee of the SPIE Medical applications of Penetrating Radiation, acting as Chairman of the Penetrating Radiation Work Group for 2003 and 2004. Dr. Patt is a consultant to the National Institutes of Health and the recipient of over $15 million dollars of grant awards as Principal Investigator from the National Institutes of Health, The United States Department of Energy and NASA.
Andrew J. Carter, PhD
Director & Technology Management
Andrew J. Carter, PhD
Director & Technology Management
Andy is cofounder and Director of Tetrous, a spinoff from TheraCell where he was Chief Technology Officer. Andy has more than 30 years leadership experience in the medical device industry and is an expert in orthobiologics, orthopaedics, and biomaterials with more than 50 US patents. He is also cofounder and Chief Technology Officer of DermOQ, a TheraCell spinoff company.
Andy is also Adjunct Associate Professor at the Prince of Wales Clinical School, UNSW, Sydney, Australia. Previous experience includes being the founder and President of Accent Biomedical, a provider of innovation services, and Chief Technology Officer at Anika Therapeutics, NASDAQ listed developer of hyaluronic acid based products for orthopedics, ophthalmics and aesthetic dermatology. Prior to this he was Vice President R&D and General Manager at Spine Wave Inc. a Connecticut based start up spine company. There he was responsible for development of injectable nucleus replacement and other motion preserving technologies. Andy spent over twenty years at Smith & Nephew, both in the US and UK. As Group Director of R&D at Smith & Nephew Endoscopy in Boston, USA he led 80+ engineers developing implants, RF and mechanical resection systems, fluid management systems for arthroscopy and endoscopy applications. He also led the company’s successful efforts to improve the effectiveness of the product development process. As Program Manager for Orthopedics and Endoscopy and Head of Materials Research at Smith & Nephew’s Group Research Center in York, UK he formulated and led long term research programs in orthopedics, spine and endoscopy, setting up joint ventures in tissue engineering and collaborative research programs with numerous universities.
Nikhil N. Verma, MD
Director
Nikhil N. Verma, MD
Director
Nikhil N. Verma MD serves patients as a shoulder, elbow and knee orthopaedic surgeon at Midwest Orthopedics at Rush, one of the top academic private practices in the nation. As a physician-leader with many interests, Dr. Verma also serves as the Head Team Physician for the Chicago White Sox, a Team Physician for the Chicago Bulls and Fellowship Director and Chief of the Sports Medicine Division of Orthopaedic Surgery at Rush University Medical Center. Dr. Verma balances his clinical and research efforts, leading various clinical trials evaluating autologous stem cell therapies for various orthopedic ailments including rotator cuff tears, ACL reconstruction, meniscectomy and knee osteoarthritis.
A graduate of University of Pennsylvania’s School of Medicine, Dr. Verma completed his orthopaedic residency at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Medical Center. His training culminated in a sports medicine and shoulder surgery fellowship at the Hospital for Special Surgery, where he received world-class training on the treatment of shoulder and elbow disorders in overhead throwing athletes. He is particular active in orthopaedic research with interests in basic science, biomechanics and clinical outcomes, and has recently received funding for his research from Major League Baseball.
As an innovator, Dr. Verma has worked to develop and license various sports medicine implants and instruments used by orthopaedic surgeons across the United States. He is an active consultant for a host of medical device companies and sits on committees for various publication journals, including the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine (AOSSM), American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES) and the Arthroscopy Association of North America (AANA).
Frank Philips, MD
Director
Frank Philips, MD
Director
Dr. Frank Phillips is a partner at Midwest Orthopaedics and is Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, Spine Fellowship Co-Director and Head, Section of Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery at Rush University Medical Center. Dr. Phillips has pioneered numerous minimally invasive spine procedures and techniques that are now widely used and has published extensively in this field. He has over 15 patents in this space and has authored more than 150 peer reviewed publications and book chapters. He has participated as principal investigator in cervical disc replacement FDA trials. Dr. Phillips has held numerous leadership positions and is currently a Board Member and North American President of the Society for Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery (SMISS) and is also Program Chair for the SASS Annual Meeting. He regularly teaches and lectures to spine surgeons nationally and internationally on spinal surgery.
Dr. Phillips served on BODs of Kyphon (acquired by Medtronic in 2007 for $4 billion) and on the Boards of other privately and publicly held spinal companies. He has also participated as a founder in a number of successful spine start-ups.
Gunnar Andersson, MD, PhD
Director
Gunnar Andersson, MD, PhD
Director
Dr. Gunnar Andersson is The Ronald L. DeWald, M.D. Professor and Chairman Emeritus of the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at Rush University Medical Center and a Spine, Back & Neck Surgeon at Midwest Orthopedics at Rush in Chicago, IL. He was chairman of the Department of Orthopedic Surgery from 1994 to 2008.
Dr. Andersson has been at the forefront of spine surgery research and education for more than 30 years. He is a member of 17 editorial boards, editor-in-chief of Spinal News International, a deputy editor for Spine, founding editor of Contemporary Spine Surgery and an associate editor of Clinical Biomechanics. He is the author of over 330 original publications, over 160 books and book chapters and over 530 abstracts.
Dr. Andersson is a past president of the Orthopaedic Research Society, the International Society for the Study of the Lumbar Spine and the American Academy of Disability Evaluating Physicians and is currently President of the International Society for the Advancement of Spine Surgery.
Dr. Andersson’s activities in connection with commercial companies includes previously being a member of scientific advisory boards at Zimmer, Smith and Nephew, Oratec, Pioneer, Angstrom, St Francis, and Bioset. He is currently on the scientific advisory boards at Allosource, Ouroboros, and Spinal Kinetics, and is a member of the safety monitoring boards at Spinal Kinetics and ISTO. Dr. Andersson is also on the Spine Advisory board to United Healthcare.
Jan S Iwanczyk, PhD
Director
Jan S Iwanczyk, PhD
Director
Jan Iwanczyk is a board member and a co-founder of Theracell, Inc. He is also a co-founder and CEO of DxRay Inc., Chairman & President of Photon Imaging, Inc., co-founder of Radiant Detector Technologies, Gamma Medica, Inc. and EVO Worldwide, Inc. Dr. Iwanczyk was awarded the 2002 Merit Award from the IEEE Nuclear and Plasma Sciences Society and has published over 150 scientific papers.
Dr. Iwanczyk received his Doctorate in Physics from the Electronics Institute of Nuclear Research in Swierk, Poland and his B.S. and M.S. in Electronics from Warsaw Technical University in Warsaw, Poland.
Simon Berry
Director
Simon Berry
Director
Simon Berry has 25 years of management and business development experience in the healthcare and medical manufacturing market. This included a national role for Smith & Nephew Richards specialising in joint replacement implants, biologics and trauma based products for Orthopaedic surgery. Simon was appointed to introduce endoscopic camera technology for the commencement of laparoscopic surgery in Australia. Simon was the also a designer and manufacturer of several laparoscopic instruments which have since been sold to major device organisations. In 1997, Mr. Berry was offered a long term contract with Wright Medical Technology to distribute orthopaedic technologies with a key focus on the introduction of the first types of Biologics for bone grafting which led to an interest in Allograft surgery. Mr. Berry is a founding member, CEO and Company Director of Australian Biotechnologies In 2002 Mr. Berry founded Australian Biotechnologies with several orthopaedic surgeons with a vision to provide allografts and new tissue technologies to Australia. Under his direction the company has grown to be the largest manufacturer of allografts in Australia and has partnerships with most Australian Health Departments to process donated tissue. In 2017 he expanded the Australian Biotechnologies operations to the USA in partnership with the Nevada Donor Network to form Origin Biologics which now has an FDA approved manufacturing facility in Las Vegas.
John Bojanowski
Director
John Bojanowski
Director
John is leading the commercial activities for Tetrous, Inc.
With 30+ years of global executive experience in sports medicine and digital health, John is Managing Director of Launch Health Partners (LHP) focused on companies that are planning for or have recently entered their commercial stage. Prior to LHP, John served as President of Clear Arch Health, a division of MobileHelp, (recently acquired by Advocate Aurora Enterprises for $290M). John has led exits as CEO of Lantos Technologies (by private investor), Executive Vice President of Sales at Scandius BioMedical (by Covidien – now Medtronic) and Vice President of Corporate Sales at US Surgical (by Tyco Healthcare – now Medtronic). Additionally, John was Vice President of U.S. Sales for Smith & Nephew. He currently serves as a mentor for German Accelerator.
Clinical Advisory Board
Nikhil N. Verma, MD
Surgeon Advisor
Nikhil N. Verma, MD
Surgeon Advisor
Nikhil N. Verma MD serves patients as a shoulder, elbow and knee orthopaedic surgeon at Midwest Orthopedics at Rush, one of the top academic private practices in the nation. As a physician-leader with many interests, Dr. Verma also serves as the Head Team Physician for the Chicago White Sox, a Team Physician for the Chicago Bulls and Fellowship Director and Chief of the Sports Medicine Division of Orthopaedic Surgery at Rush University Medical Center. Dr. Verma balances his clinical and research efforts, leading various clinical trials evaluating autologous stem cell therapies for various orthopedic ailments including rotator cuff tears, ACL reconstruction, meniscectomy and knee osteoarthritis.
A graduate of University of Pennsylvania’s School of Medicine, Dr. Verma completed his orthopaedic residency at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Medical Center. His training culminated in a sports medicine and shoulder surgery fellowship at the Hospital for Special Surgery, where he received world-class training on the treatment of shoulder and elbow disorders in overhead throwing athletes. He is particular active in orthopaedic research with interests in basic science, biomechanics and clinical outcomes, and has recently received funding for his research from Major League Baseball.
As an innovator, Dr. Verma has worked to develop and license various sports medicine implants and instruments used by orthopaedic surgeons across the United States. He is an active consultant for a host of medical device companies and sits on committees for various publication journals, including the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine (AOSSM), American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES) and the Arthroscopy Association of North America (AANA).
Mark Getelman, MD
Surgeon Advisor
Mark Getelman, MD
Surgeon Advisor
Mark Getelman, MD is double board-certified in Orthopedic Surgery and Sports Medicine by the American Board of Orthopedic Surgery, the Board responsible for evaluating the training of Orthopedic surgeons. Consistently recognized by his colleagues and by both the orthopedic and lay communities for his professional experience, surgical skill, and state-of-the-art techniques. He has been designated a Master Arthroscopist and has received the LA Super Doctor Distinction for many years.
He is a leader in the field of Arthroscopic and Minimally Invasive Surgery as evidenced by the many published journal articles, textbook chapters, meeting presentations, and arthroscopic surgery courses he teaches for other Board-Certified Orthopedic surgeons. He has developed and edited three Maintenance of Certification AANA Examinations taken by other Board Certified Orthopedic Surgeons to keep their certification.
Jerome A. Goldberg, MD
Surgeon Advisor
Jerome A. Goldberg, MD
Surgeon Advisor
Dr. Jerome Goldberg is an orthopedic Shoulder Surgeon practicing in Sydney, Australia, at the Prince of Wales Private Hospital and with the Orthosports Group. He is a graduate in medicine from Sydney University and has a fellowship from the Australasian College of Surgeons and the Australian Orthopedic Association. His particular interests include arthroscopic shoulder surgery particularly related to Instability and Rotator Cuff dysfunction. He also has an interest in clinical research and is an active participant in basic science research with the Prince of Wales Surgical and Orthopaedic Research Laboratory. He has numerous publications in the literature.
Dr. Goldberg is a past president of the Shoulder & Elbow Society of Australia and a past Board Member of the International Board of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery. Having served as a company Director and/or Chairman for several medical based organizations, Dr. Goldberg is a founding member of Australian Biotechnologies and is currently the Chairman of that company.
David H. Sonnabend, MD
Surgeon Advisor
David H. Sonnabend, MD
Surgeon Advisor
David Sonnabend is Professor Emeritus at the University of Sydney. His doctoral thesis was on the pathology, repair and comparative anatomy of the rotator cuff. He also has an honours degree in biochemistry, and has published over 70 shoulder-related peer-reviewed scientific papers and 18 book chapters.
He was a founding member of the Australian and New Zealand Orthopaedic Research Society, and the inaugural president of the Shoulder and Elbow Society of Australia, of which he is an honorary life member. He was, for nine years, “Editor in Australasia” of the Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery. He is a corresponding member of the “American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons”, and a reviewer for various journals (including the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, the Journal of Orthopaedic Science, the American Journal of Sports Medicine, the Journal of Shoulder & Elbow Surgery and Shoulder & Elbow Journal). He was for sixteen years a member of the International Board of Shoulder Surgery, and for eight years a member of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons ‘Court of Examiners’. He has been a visiting professor at various overseas universities, including George Washington University (Washington DC, USA), and the Hebrew University (Jerusalem, Israel) . He has been an invited guest lecturer at numerous overseas meetings including the Japanese, New Zealand, Indonesian and South African Orthopaedic Associations and the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. In 2004 he was the Codman lecturer at the 9 th International Conference on Surgery of the Shoulder, in Washington DC. In 2007 he received the Australian Orthopaedic Association award for contributions to Orthopaedic Research, and in 2011 the Australian Orthopaedic Association award for orthopaedic education. In 2013 he received the L.O. Betts Medal for outstanding contribution to Australian Orthopaedics. He was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 2018.
He has trained more than sixty specialist shoulder surgeons from all continents except Antarctica, and continues to participate in a post specialization Fellowship programme in Shoulder and Elbow Surgery at the Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney. He is involved in ongoing research into osteoarthritis and tendon healing in the Raymond Purves Research Laboratories (Royal North Shore Hospital).
Frank Philips, MD
Surgeon Advisor
Frank Philips, MD
Surgeon Advisor
Dr. Frank Phillips is a partner at Midwest Orthopaedics and is Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, Spine Fellowship Co-Director and Head, Section of Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery at Rush University Medical Center. Dr. Phillips has pioneered numerous minimally invasive spine procedures and techniques that are now widely used and has published extensively in this field. He has over 15 patents in this space and has authored more than 150 peer reviewed publications and book chapters. He has participated as principal investigator in cervical disc replacement FDA trials. Dr. Phillips has held numerous leadership positions and is currently a Board Member and North American President of the Society for Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery (SMISS) and is also Program Chair for the SASS Annual Meeting. He regularly teaches and lectures to spine surgeons nationally and internationally on spinal surgery.
Dr. Phillips served on BODs of Kyphon (acquired by Medtronic in 2007 for $4 billion) and on the Boards of other privately and publicly held spinal companies. He has also participated as a founder in a number of successful spine start-ups.
Gunnar Andersson, MD, PhD
Surgeon Advisor
Gunnar Andersson, MD, PhD
Surgeon Advisor
Dr. Gunnar Andersson is The Ronald L. DeWald, M.D. Professor and Chairman Emeritus of the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at Rush University Medical Center and a Spine, Back & Neck Surgeon at Midwest Orthopedics at Rush in Chicago, IL. He was chairman of the Department of Orthopedic Surgery from 1994 to 2008.
Dr. Andersson has been at the forefront of spine surgery research and education for more than 30 years. He is a member of 17 editorial boards, editor-in-chief of Spinal News International, a deputy editor for Spine, founding editor of Contemporary Spine Surgery and an associate editor of Clinical Biomechanics. He is the author of over 330 original publications, over 160 books and book chapters and over 530 abstracts.
Dr. Andersson is a past president of the Orthopaedic Research Society, the International Society for the Study of the Lumbar Spine and the American Academy of Disability Evaluating Physicians and is currently President of the International Society for the Advancement of Spine Surgery.
Dr. Andersson’s activities in connection with commercial companies includes previously being a member of scientific advisory boards at Zimmer, Smith and Nephew, Oratec, Pioneer, Angstrom, St Francis, and Bioset. He is currently on the scientific advisory boards at Allosource, Ouroboros, and Spinal Kinetics, and is a member of the safety monitoring boards at Spinal Kinetics and ISTO. Dr. Andersson is also on the Spine Advisory board to United Healthcare.
W.R. Walsh, PhD
Clinical and Pre-Clinical Advisor
W.R. Walsh, PhD
Clinical and Pre-Clinical Advisor
W.R. Walsh, PhD is a Professor in the Prince of Wales Clinical School, Division of Surgery at University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, and the Founder and Director of Surgical & Orthopaedic Research Laboratories (SORL), located on the Prince of Wales Hospital campus. His research interests lie at the interface between implanted materials and the connective tissues of the body. Prof. Walsh nearly 500 peer reviewed journal publications, book chapters and patents. He is on several editorial boards including Biomaterials, CORR, Muscle Tendon Ligament Journal, Journal of Biomechanics, The Spine Journal, Frontiers in Surgery, Bone and Joint Research, Journal of Orthopaedic Research, American Journal of Sports Medicine.