Corflex Global takes on innovative osteoarthritis knee brace

Oct. 28—Everyone is guaranteed to have knee, shoulder or back problems at some point in their lives, which has kept Corflex busy for nearly four decades making orthopedic braces.

In 2019, the company started to develop the Solar OA brace, an osteoarthritis knee brace that uses a new silicone resin and an ultraviolet light curing process to custom fit each patient's leg. The brace was a finalist for Product of the Year with the New Hampshire Tech Alliance.

Ted Lorenzetti, owner and chief development officer, said the patent-pending product, launched in August, will be an industry disrupter.

"There is nothing else like it," he said. "Currently what you have to do is take a cast mold of the patient's leg," he said.

It takes at least a month for a custom brace to be made and shipped to patients, with much of them being manufactured in California.

"This one you put on and walk out the door," Lorenzetti said. "And it is custom molded, so it is a great fit."

The brace allows patients to be active with activities such as golfing, skiing and playing tennis — and is covered by insurance.

"We always take pride in getting people back on the playing field or back to their occupation," Lorenzetti said. "It is a very rewarding product to sell."

About 33 million Americans have osteoarthritis.

The company, which manufactures more than 400 products, partnered with Arctic Bracing in Allen, Texas, to incorporate its SolarTech silicone resin product, which forms to a patient's leg after a 90-second controlled UV light curing process. The product took about 2 1/2 years to develop.

Steve Santaniello, director of product development, came on board in 2013 to help develop new products. He previously worked at Reebok, owned his own prototyping business and taught at Rhode Island School of Design.

The first product he worked on was the Contender post-op knee brace. The company also has a post-op elbow brace as well.

"We were much more Northeast based, and the (Contender products) took us across the country," said Shelly Barnett, who became CEO in 2020.

The Solar OA brace fits all sizes of legs, and most times patients are fitted within 10 minutes. The brace can help patients who are looking to get knee replacements but have to lose weight to be active again, he said.

"The customization of the brace is the most important feature," he said, because it prevents the brace from sliding down. "Once it is perfectly fit to the patient's leg then they can be really active, and it is not going to slide and move around on them."

Lorenzetti and his brother, Paul, bought the Bridgeport, Connecticut, company in 1984, which at the time only had two products, an arm sling and a belt worn over the ribs. The company moved to New Hampshire after having trouble finding seamstresses to make the products. The company started in the Millyard and has expanded several times at the building on East Industrial Drive in Manchester.

"We are really focused now on the really technical products as opposed to any kind of commodity item," Ted Lorenzetti said.

The company does more than $10 million in sales annually and has 62 employees.

On a tour of the company head-quarters Paul Lorenzetti, who served as CEO up until 2020, pointed out a small push-cart with a sign that read, "Paul's Cart." The cart used to be enough to hold all its UPS shipments. Now, the company sends out six to eight pallets of deliveries every day.

In 2013, Corflex increased its manufacturing productivity by opening a facility in the Dominican Republic.

Many employees have been with the company for an average of 15 years. Several have been with the company for more than 30 years.

"There is probably 300 years of experience," Paul Lorenzetti said.

The company ships 60,000 to 70,000 products out of the building every month.

The largest challenge during the COVID-19 pandemic was the disruption to the supply chain and getting the products needed. The company shifted to help produce masks and face shields.

Unlike other braces, the Solar OA usually only takes one visit to fit properly, which will help doctor's offices struggling to maintain staffing levels, Barnett said.

Barnett said much of the resin used in the Solar OA is produced overseas, but the company is looking to have it manufactured closer to home. The resin will be used in other products such as a brace for the spine and wrist braces.

"We are trying to keep as much as we possibly can stateside and in New Hampshire," she said.