LfC – Through innovative bio-engineering to operating theatres worldwide

The first stage in the LfC’s history started in 1989 when the company was set up. It was a time of great political and socio-economic transformation in Poland and other Central and Eastern European countries.

The challenge the company took up at the start of its activity was huge. Despite that, LfC made the effort to catch up with the leading producers of medical equipment used in the surgical treatment of spinal disorders. Enormous commitment was needed to achieve this goal. It was necessary to construct production facilities, introduce modern technologies, build a new organisational and marketing strategy and, something which turned out to be particularly difficult, change the mentality of people at the company and outside.

LfC put emphasis on scientific development and on creating a broad research and engineering base, initially at a national and then at European and global level. The first steps meant confronting the company’s own potential with foreign achievements. It was not easy because LfC’s activity involves the need to combine many fields of science. Additionally, the company had to overcome obstacles put in its path by the competition.

The joint work of outstanding specialists in different fields – technology, engineering and medicine – with the leading role of LfC’s President Lechosław Ciupik, an expert in biomedical engineering, resulted in the first patents and the development of original products under the name Spinal System DERO. The system is based on a number of interrelated and complementary inventions and is made up of spinal implants, special surgical instruments and surgical procedures designed to ensure patient and physician safety. DERO supports the treatment of the spine along its entire length: from the occipital to the sacral bone. The system is used in the treatment of over 100 diseases, including deformation, cancerous, traumatic and other cases.

The DERO Didactic System is an innovative training centre established to ensure wide access to spinal implants and their safe use. The centre was the last element in efforts to effectively introduce new spine treatment methods to medical practice. That the strategy chosen by LfC is right is confirmed by the fact that the company has received authorisation to conduct post-graduate courses for physicians and middle-level medical personnel.

Stage Two – fast expansion

With the beginning of the new millennium and Poland’s entry to the European Union, new opportunities opened for LfC.

The priority was product quality and safety confirmed by an ISO quality management system and theCE marking necessary for the DERO system to be sold on the EU market.

The company took an active part in the most important European congresses and symposia, including Eurospine (Prague 2003, Barcelona 2005, Brussels 2007), Spineweek (Porto 2004, Geneva 2008) and Brussels Spine Symposium.

LfC’s activity on the Polish, European and even global markets finally gained recognition. The DERO brand became recognisable on the market for spinal implants. The company found its own research and development niche, developed its unique medical products and gained acceptance from the competition. It was not an easy task because the competition is large – corporations which fill every single void in the market.

The company started international cooperation in research and development and in marketing. Its partners come from the United States, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Mexico, Turkey, South Africa and other countries.

DERO products successfully compete on European and global markets. One spectacular example was the sale of intellectual property – a method for the minimally invasive biomechanical stabilisation of the lumbar spine – to the United States in 2007. Considering that the United States is at the forefront of spine implantation, LfC’s success seems to be even greater. The inSWing implant is now conquering operating theatres across the world. And LfC has expanded its cooperation with the Americans in the sphere of R&D and manufacturing.

LfC has expertise and experience of many years in special research and development activity in Poland, Europe and beyond. The company is involved in broad-scale R&D work based on its own laboratory base and within an international – Polish-European-American – research system in developing original solutions used in spinal surgery. The objective of LfC’s cooperation with technical and medical research centres is to effectively exploit knowledge to develop innovative surgical products and techniques. In the manufacturing process, LfC uses the latest technological achievements, including new materials such as titanium alloys with modern coatings, multi-functional polymers, bone substitutes etc. DERO system solutions increase patient safety, considerably reduce treatment costs, shorten hospital stay and are friendly to the both patient and surgeon.

More than 23,000 patients in Poland and abroad have already been effectively cured with the use of the DERO system.

Success breeds success. The high quality of the SPINAL SYSTEM DERO and the company’s innovative design solutions have earned recognition in Poland and abroad. LfC has won numerous awards, which confirm its top place in the Ranking of Poland’s Most Innovative Enterprises (2007) and its high position in the medical high-tech sector in the world.