employees and intends to soon begin the process of adding about 50 additional employees, including about 20 at its headquarters off of Emperor Boulevard, said spokesman Mike Truell. Bioventus currently has 60 workers in Durham, including a management team led by CEO Mark Augusti, who previously headed the biologics and clinical therapies division at Smith Nephew, which also was based in Durham.



Augusti said that being reborn as a privately held, more focused business will enable it to accelerate its organic growth. In addition, it will be able to tap its new majority owner Essex Woodlands, a health ugg boots outlet location care investment firm with $2.5 billion under management for funds to further expand through acquisitions.



What is now Bioventus reaped about $240 million in revenue in 2011, up from $223 million in 2010. The company top seller is Exogen, an ultrasound system that accelerates the healing of fractured bones. It also sells two injectable medicines for osteoarthritis, or degenerative joint disease: Supartz, for knee pain, and Durolane, for pain in a variety of joints.



United Kingdombased Smith Nephews, which last year generated nearly $4.3 billion in ugg australia outlet revenue, announced in January that it was spinning off its biologics and clinical therapies division into a joint venture 51 percent owned by Essex Woodlands. Smith Nephew retains a 49 percent ownership stake and also received $98 million in cash and a $160 million fiveyear note.



nimble, more innovative not Smith Nephews spinning something off and walking away from it, said Marty Sutter, managing director and cofunder of Essex Woodlands. is a wonderful opportunity where a larger company recognizes that, sometimes, a smaller company will be more nimble, more innovative. will be investing more money in research and development, Sutter said. But over the next five years he expects the majority of innovation to come from acquiring technology or acquiring companies.



Smith Nephew retains a small contingent of about 10 employees in Durham, Truell said. Smith Nephew executives couldn be reached for comment.



Augusti participated in the decision to locate the biologics and clinical therapies division in Durham in 2008, a decision he said was influenced by the talented local workforce and the favorable business environment.



can tell you that it was not solely because I a Duke graduate, he joked. Augusti, 46, majored in computer science and economics at Duke and also received an MBA from UCLA.