Orthovita, Inc. (Orthovita), a orthobiologics company, board has appointed William Tidmore as chairman of the company effective march 3, 2009. His appointment follows the resignation on March 1, 2009 of david fitzgerald as chairman and a director of orthovita’ board. Tidmore has over 20 years of experience in the spine and orthopedic industry. Tidmore has served as a member of Orthovita's board of directors since 2007.

He was formerly president and chairman of DePuy Acromed, as well as president of DePuy, which was acquired by Johnson & Johnson in 1999. Tidmore held various senior management roles during his tenure of over 14 years with Depuy, including leadership roles for international businesses with direct operational responsibilities across Europe, Latin America, Japan and Canada. Before that, he held several management roles at Ethicon, Inc., including vice president of sales and marketing in Canada.

Fitzgerald submitted his resignation to the company due to his recent appointment as acting president and chief executive officer of ArthroCare. Fitzgerald had served since 2003 as Orthovita’s chairman of the board and as a member of the board of directors of ArthroCare Corp. His decision to resign from Orthovita’s Board was based on the change in his role at ArthroCare to a senior executive, in recognition of the time commitment and possible business conflicts associated with this position.

“Dave has been an outstanding Chairman at Orthovita who has played an important role in the Company’s success throughout the years,” said Antony Koblish, president and chief executive officer of Orthovita. “Under his guidance, Orthovita significantly increased sales, completed several key equity and debt financings, acquired marketing rights for two hemostasis products and made substantial progress in product development. We appreciate Dave’s contributions and he will be missed. We look forward to solid leadership from Bill Tidmore and the contributions that his extensive experience in the orthopedic and spine industry will bring.”