RTI Biologics Receives 2009 Gainesville Area Chamber of Commerce Business Award for Expansion

10/16/2009

• Wendy Crites Wacker, APR
• Director, Corp Communications
• wwacker@rtix.com
• 386-418-8888 (4220)

ALACHUA, Fla. (Oct. 16, 2009) – RTI Biologics Inc. (RTI) (Nasdaq: RTIX), the Florida-based processor of orthopedic, dental, hernia and other biologic implants, was awarded the 2009 Expansion Award at the Gainesville Area Chamber of Commerce 2009 Business of the Year Awards this week.

RTI received the award for business expansion at an awards luncheon in Gainesville, Fla. and was among six local companies that received 2009 Business of the Year Awards. RTI was chosen for this award based on exceptional contributions toward local economic diversification through job creation and distinctive community involvement and investment.

“Being recognized in our local community for the 2009 Business Expansion Award is another important recognition for RTI,” said Brian K. Hutchison, chairman and CEO for RTI. “This award is a testament to the hard work of all of our employees and the management team that helped with the merger and integration of Regeneration Technologies, Inc. and Tutogen Medical, Inc., which resulted in the formation of RTI Biologics.”

The Gainesville Area Chamber of Commerce awarded businesses that have excelled in entrepreneurship, innovation, expansion and commitment to the environment.

The recipients were selected by an independent panel of judges from among past award recipients and local business people. The judges reviewed each of the nominated businesses’ applications and, using a standardized judging form, assigned points based on the companies’ achievements in separate criteria including recent expansion of the business, community involvement and charitable fundraising, among others.

About RTI Biologics Inc.

RTI Biologics, Inc. is the leading provider of sterile biological implants for surgeries around the world with a commitment to advancing science, safety and innovation. RTI prepares human donated tissue and bovine tissue for transplantation through extensive testing and screening, precision shaping and proprietary, validated sterilization processes. These allograft and xenograft implants are used in orthopedic, dental, hernia and other specialty surgeries.

RTI’s innovations continuously raise the bar of science and safety for biologics – from being the first company to offer precision-tooled bone implants and assembled technology to maximize each gift of donation, to inventing validated sterilization processes that include viral inactivation steps. Two such processes – the BioCleanse® Tissue Sterilization Process and the Tutoplast® Tissue Sterilization Process – have a combined record of more than two million implants distributed with zero incidence of allograft-associated infection. These processes have been validated by tissue type to penetrate tissue, inactivate or remove viruses and a wide range of organisms using worst-case testing and maintain tissue biocompatibility and functionality.

RTI’s worldwide corporate headquarters are located in Alachua, Fla., with international facilities in Neunkirchen, Germany, and Aix-en-Provence, France. The company is accredited in the U.S. by the American Association of Tissue Banks.