‘US Spine Surgery Authority’ Anthony Shin: “L&K Bio Products Are Competitive in the US”

Anthony Shin Visits Yongin Factory... Introduces Production Process
"L&K Has Product Competitiveness Along with Communication and Support Capabilities"
"Considering Expanding Product Use in the U.S."

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Hyowon] Dr. Anthony Shin, a leading authority in spinal surgery in the United States, praised the quality of L&K Biomed's products as comparable to those of global top-tier companies and revealed plans to use them in actual surgeries.

Dr. Anthony Shin of Shriner's Hospital in the United States (left) and Doheum Yoon, Director of CHA University Medical Center (center), are receiving an explanation about the production facilities of L&K Bio's spinal implant products.

On the 1st, L&K Biomed held an event to introduce its second factory in Yongin, completed in May, to Dr. Shin and Yoon Doheum, Director of SungKwang Medical Foundation and Cha University Medical Center.

L&K Biomed is a company that manufactures spinal implant products. The second factory is equipped with specialized production facilities for its flagship product, the height-expandable interbody cage (expandable cage), and has doubled its previous production capacity.

Dr. Anthony Shin is a neurosurgeon affiliated with Shriners Hospital in Louisiana. Shriners Hospital is one of the large hospital chains in the U.S. with 20 branches. Dr. Shin is a leading authority on spinal implants in the U.S., performing over 400 spinal surgeries annually and using various expandable cages. In Korea, he is also known as the husband of Bang Soo-hyun, the gold medalist in women's singles badminton at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

Director Yoon Doheum is a neurosurgeon who served as the 32nd director of Severance Hospital and the 17th vice president for medical affairs and director of Yonsei University Medical Center. He is an authority in spinal surgery and has served as president of the Korean Cervical Spine Research Society and the Asia-Pacific Cervical Spine Society. After touring the factory, Director Yoon said, "Since the early 2000s, domestic companies have been producing spinal implants, but back then, the factories were crude and product defect rates were high. However, seeing L&K Biomed's factory this time, I was surprised by the global-level quality control and production capabilities."

On the day, Son Woo-geun, head of production at L&K Biomed, guided the tour of the factory line and introduced the L&K product manufacturing process. He demonstrated manufacturing equipment such as MCT and CNC and provided detailed explanations of manual processes and product inspection procedures.

Dr. Shin commented, "I have seen numerous spinal implant companies in the U.S., but the production facilities and product competitiveness of L&K Biomed are by no means inferior when compared to global companies."

(From left) Kang Guk-jin, CEO of L&K Bio; Anthony Shin, MD, Shriner's Hospital, USA; Yoon Do-heum, Director of CHA University Medical Center; Park Geun-joo, CEO of L&K Bio.

Dr. Shin began using L&K Biomed's products for spinal surgeries in the U.S. starting in 2013. Over the past eight years, he has steadily increased usage, explaining that L&K Biomed provided a variety of instruments necessary for doctors, which enabled greater product utilization. He also noted that the product quality was excellent and surgical outcomes were favorable.

He said, "When looking at expandable cages, Globus is the market leader in the U.S., but although L&K Biomed is smaller in scale, it is not inferior in innovation or product quality. Moreover, L&K Biomed's strength lies in quickly improving and supporting what doctors want."

He viewed L&K Biomed's communication skills and product competitiveness as advantages in the U.S. market as well. In particular, he explained that since many Korean-American opinion leaders exist in the U.S. neurosurgery field, it would be relatively easy to establish connections. It is known that there are about 200 to 300 Korean-American neurosurgeons in the U.S.

Furthermore, he revealed plans to utilize L&K Biomed's new products in surgeries. He said, "There is a spinal implant surgery that approaches from the side of the torso. Until now, I have used Globus products, but I am currently reviewing the use of L&K Biomed's products going forward."

Meanwhile, during this visit to Korea, Dr. Shin signed comprehensive agreements with L&K Biomed for product development, technical advisory services, and joint development of a global AI smart system. He is also scheduled to demonstrate spinal implant surgery using L&K Biomed's products at the North American Spine Society (NASS) meeting held in Boston, USA.