Aurora Spine Corporation Announces 2019 Year End Results

NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION IN THE UNITED STATES OR OVER UNITED STATES WIRE SERVICES

CARLSBAD, Calif., June 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aurora Spine Corporation (“Aurora Spine” or the “Company”) (TSXV: ASG) announces financial results for the year ended December 31, 2019.

To our Shareholders:

2019 was a record year for Aurora Spine recording the highest revenue in the Company’s history, a 28% increase from the 2018 revenue. 

During 2019, we continued the integration of our family of products into our Screwless Procedure™, a cutting-edge surgical approach to spine fusion. The Screwless Procedure features: our ZIP® MIS Fusion Systems and our TiNano® Interbody cages.

Highlights from 2019     

• Increase Revenue – During the year, we generated $11.153 million in revenue, the highest revenue in the Company’s history. The change represents an increase of $2.470 million or 28% as compared to 2018.
  
   
• Product Development – The engineering team finalized product designs for the Posterior SI Joint fusion products and the ZIP-Flex interlaminar fixation device. These products are an important part of our new product launch offering for 2020.
  
   
• Participation at 2019 NASS - The Company participated at the 2019 North American Spine Society Annual Meeting held in September 2019 in Chicago, IL. Aurora Spine showcased its Screwless Procedure™ product portfolio and highlighted its latest fusion technologies, including the patented ZIP® MIS Interspinous fusion systems.

Highlights subsequent to year end

• Private Placement - In February 2020, the Company completed a private placement of 8,932,000 common shares for aggregate gross proceeds of CDN$2,333,000 (US$1,697,080).  In connection with this offering, the Company paid cash commissions and fees of CDN$69,616 (US$59,281). A director of the Company subscribed to and received 1,579,000 shares in exchange for cash of CDN$394,750 (US$300,010).  The proceeds of the February 2020 private placement will be, in part, used to fund the development and marketing of various product launches.
  
   
• COVID-19 - During Q1 2020, the entire world was struck with the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result of the government mandated close of business, the US government offered relief to small businesses. The Company applied for and received a $10,000 grant under the Economic Recovery Act and $450,888 under the CARES Act in the form of a Payroll Protection Program loan to fund payroll and other qualified expenses during the period of the business shutdown mandated by state governments. The loan is forgivable under certain terms and conditions. If those conditions are not met, the Company is required to return a portion of the principal at a rate of 1% interest. The Company intends to use a substantial portion of the loan for its intended purpose and does not expect to be required to return material amount of the debt.

In 2019, we continued driving growth by training surgeons and distributors on Aurora Spine’s technology and increasing the reach of our sales force.

In 2020, we have added some outstanding surgeons to our customer base that value our products and wish to be a part of our success. We continue to review our new product development within the framework of financial responsibility to achieve our long-term growth and profitability objectives while reacting to, and recovering from the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

We remain fully committed to developing our U.S. sales through engaging new and existing distributors and improving our direct relationship experience with our surgeons. This should allow us to generate increased sales and provide improved customer service going forward.

Management and I thank our shareholders for their continued support in these endeavors.    

None of this would be possible without the dedication and commitment of our hardworking colleagues at Aurora. I want to thank them for the great accomplishments they have made this year, for Aurora and ultimately, for patients. They have embraced change and risen to the numerous challenges before them, and I am grateful for their ongoing support of our company and our mission.

I would also like to thank you, our investors, for your continued support. Together, we have built a strong foundation, and I look forward to the opportunities ahead of us. I am truly grateful to be part of an organization that makes such a positive improvement in the lives of patients around the world.

The Financial Statements together with the Management Discussion and Analysis can be found on SEDAR at

Trent J. Northcutt

President and Chief Executive Officer

About Aurora Spine

Aurora Spine is focused on bringing new solutions to the spinal implant market through a series of innovative, minimally invasive, regenerative spinal implant technologies.

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