Vivex® Biologics, Inc. Appoints Industry Veteran Jon E. Block, Ph.D., as Chief Clinical Officer
Dr. Jon Block to Lead Vivex’s Completion of its Ascend and Restore Randomized Clinical Trials for VIA Disc® NP, Vivex’s Revolutionary Minimally Invasive Intervention for Symptomatic Disc Degeneration
MIAMI, June 10, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Vivex Biologics, Inc., a leader in developing and delivering innovative allografts, today announced the appointment of Jon E. Block, Ph.D., an industry luminary with more than 40 years of leadership experience in clinical research, medical affairs, and regulatory strategy, as the company’s Chief Clinical Officer.
In this role, Dr. Block will spearhead Vivex’s clinical development initiatives, particularly the completion of Vivex’s Ascend and Restore randomized clinical trials for VIA Disc NP, Vivex’s procedure for supplementing discs in patients with symptomatic disc degeneration. Dr. Block will also oversee the design and execution of Vivex’s clinical trials for its orthofusion and wound allografts and drive strategic alignment between clinical, regulatory, and commercial teams to support the company’s growing portfolio of innovative allograft products.
“We are delighted to welcome Dr. Block to Vivex in this leadership role as we look towards the next phase of growth for the company,” said John A. McCallum, Executive Chairman for Vivex. “As our existing clinical data, patient feedback, and physician and medical society support continue to demonstrate, VIA Disc NP is a disruptive technology that is already helping thousands of patients with low back pain. With Jon now leading the successful execution and completion of our Ascend and Restore randomized clinical trials for VIA Disc NP in Australia and the U.S., we are confident in our ability to further accelerate clinical research and build on the positive patient outcomes observed in the commercial setting, having successfully treated over 17,000 intervertebral discs in patients with symptomatic disc degeneration.”
Rey Pascual, Vivex’s Co-President, added, “Vivex’s team has successfully developed and commercialized a suite of transformative and innovative solutions to support patients requiring safe and effective products for a broad range of conditions where tissue damage is an underlying factor. With Dr. Block’s appointment, alongside our robust R&D capabilities and commercial infrastructure, we remain focused on advancing Vivex’s continued growth by broadening the scope and impact of our offerings, further solidifying our leadership in the industry.”
Dr. Block commented, “I am absolutely thrilled to be joining an incredibly forward-thinking organization like Vivex and am eager to leverage my decades of clinical experience in spine care, pain management, orthopedics, and musculoskeletal imaging to further propel the rapidly growing success of the company. I am particularly excited about the clinical trajectory and global impact of VIA Disc NP. I am confident that this groundbreaking technology will set the new standard of care for the leading cause of disability in the U.S. This conviction is what drives my full-time commitment to bringing it to fruition and joining Vivex’s outstanding team.”
Prior to joining Vivex, Dr. Block held numerous leadership positions in both start-up and global healthcare companies spanning multiple therapeutic areas, including orthopedics, spine, wound care, and cardiovascular medicine. Earlier in his career, he served as Associate Director of the Osteoporosis Research Group, Department of Radiology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). In this capacity, Dr. Block led clinical research for the premier musculoskeletal imaging and bone densitometry group and secured funding for and executed four NIH R01 clinical investigations in spinal osteoporosis, which resulted in UCSF being named a Center of Excellence by the National Institutes of Health.
Dr. Block also led the clinical and regulatory CRO groups and functions as Vice President, Scientific Affairs for Advanced Bioresearch Associates, where he acted as a key advisor and participant in the historic down-classification amendment for pedicle screws with the FDA, which resulted in the broad commercialization of interbody cages with posterior instrumentation as the benchmark for spinal fusion.
Dr. Block has also held numerous scientific advisory positions at leading medical device companies, resulting in sizeable acquisitions and the introduction of leading technologies, including roles at Kyphon, Osteotech, Cardima, Moximed, 3Spine, Simplify Medical, and Vertiflex.
In addition to his industry achievements, Dr. Block has authored more than 200 peer-reviewed scientific publications and has acted as a scientific advisor for policy development, coding recommendations, and reimbursement for the American Society of Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR), the North American Spine Society (NASS), and the International Society for the Advancement of Spine Surgery (ISASS).
About Vivex Biologics, Inc.
Vivex Biologics is a pioneer in advancing allografts that help patients suffering from musculoskeletal injuries, wounds, and burned skin. By leveraging the resources of the nation's oldest civilian tissue bank, Vivex is channeling the body's inherent healing qualities to bring patients optimal care and to provide medical professionals and patients with innovative treatment options for a broad range of indications.
Media Contact
Kathryn Larson, VP of Marketing
klarson@vivex.com
Legal Disclaimer:
EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.
