Sagitech Spine B.V.

Patients with severe spinal deformities and chronic back pain often undergo multiple complex spinal surgeries with limited clinical benefits. For a subset of these patients, further corrective surgery is eventually associated with a prohibitively high surgical risk, leaving them with progressive disability and, in some cases, wheelchair dependence, resulting in low quality of life. The clinical and scientific founders of Sagitech Spine B.V. have developed an innovative surgical concept that may offer a safer alternative.

The company was founded in June 2026 by spine surgeons prof. F.C. Öner, MD, PhD, and S.M. van Gaalen, MD, PhD, to develop and commercialize a novel treatment for complex spinal and spinopelvic deformity. This surgical procedure is designed to provide a less invasive alternative to current surgical approaches and will use a patient-specific 3D-printed titanium implant to restore sagittal spinal alignment and improve upright posture by performing a bilateral extending pelvic osteotomy (BEPO). This procedure involves a controlled bilateral osteotomy of the pelvis, which forms the base of the spinal column, followed by insertion of a specifically designed implant into the osteotomy gap.

The ultimate objective is to establish a reproducible, teachable and potentially patent-protected surgical technique that provides a treatment option for patients who have exhausted conventional surgical approaches. If successful, this approach can also be used to correct spinal imbalance in various less severe conditions.

Sagitech Spine B.V. combines specialized anatomical and surgical expertise with clinical development capabilities, a network of experienced spine surgeons and expertise in the development and translation of novel surgical procedures and patient-specific implants.

Management team

Steven van Gaalen, MD, PhD

Director and co-founder

Steven van Gaalen is an orthopaedic surgeon specializing in spinal surgery, with extensive experience in complex spinal conditions and minimally invasive surgical techniques. He completed his orthopedic training in Utrecht in 2009, followed by a fellowship in spinal surgery at Universitair Medisch Center Utrecht (UMCU). Since then, he combined clinical practice, education, research and innovation in spine care.

Steven has worked as an orthopedic surgeon at Diakonessenhuis in Utrecht and Zeist and at Bergman Clinics. In 2018, he founded Spine Center Amsterdam, where he focuses on spinal surgery, including minimally invasive and endoscopic lumbar spine surgery. His areas of interest include degenerative spine deformities and osteoporotic spinal trauma.

Alongside his clinical work, Steven has maintained a strong interest in scientific research and education. His PhD thesis (2010) focused on tissue engineering and bone regeneration for spinal fusion. He has contributed to scientific publications and supervised three PhD candidates conducting research in spinal surgery.

Steven is passionate about combining medical expertise, innovation and patient-focused care to continuously improve outcomes in spinal surgery.

Paul Leufkens, MSc, RPh, MBA

General Manager and co-founder

Paul Leufkens is an experienced life sciences entrepreneur and executive with a track record in the development and management of pharmaceutical and medical technology companies. As co-founder and General Manager of Sagitech Spine B.V., he oversees intellectual property, investor relations, strategy, partnerships and company operations.

Paul has held founding and senior executive roles in several pharmaceutical and medtech companies, including AM-Pharma, Neurophyxia, Trajectum Pharma and CART-Tech. At CART-Tech, he served as CEO and co-founder and was responsible for the company's development and commercialization strategy.

Earlier in his career, Paul held positions in regulatory affairs, clinical development, product development and business development at companies including Pharming Group, Yamanouchi Europe, Exponential Biotherapies and Reliance Life Sciences. His experience spans drug development, medical devices, clinical research, regulatory strategy, licensing and commercialization.

Paul holds degrees in pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences from Utrecht University and an MBA from the University of Bradford.

Lidewij Ochtman – Crol, MD, PhD

Director Research & Development

Lidewij Ochtman – Crol is a physician and researcher with a background in orthopedic surgery and a particular interest in spinal surgery, sagittal spinal alignment and the translation of innovative research into clinical practice.

She obtained her PhD from Utrecht University in 2025 with her thesis “The challenge of sagittal spinal alignment”. Her research evaluated the clinical relevance of sagittal spinal alignment and investigated novel pelvic osteotomy techniques as potential alternatives to conventional spinal correction procedures. Her thesis included preliminary experimental cadaveric research and in-silico modelling of pelvic osteotomies, including the BEPO. Her doctoral research provided the scientific foundation for further development of the BEPO concept, including investigation of its anatomical feasibility and potential application in the correction of sagittal spinal imbalance.

Lidewij joined Sagitech Spine B.V. in September 2026 as Director Research & Development, where she focuses on translating the research from her PhD towards clinical applications.

Prof. Cumhur Öner, MD, PhD

Head of scientific advisory board and co-founder

Cumhur Öner is an internationally recognized orthopedic spine surgeon and emeritus professor of Spinal Surgery at the UMCU and Utrecht University. He joined the UMCU in 1993 after completing his orthopedic surgery training in Rotterdam. He obtained his PhD cum laude from Utrecht University in 1999, with research focusing on diagnostic and prognostic parameters in patients with thoracolumbar spinal trauma.

From 2009 to 2023, he served as professor of Spinal Surgery. He was head of the neuro-orthopaedic spine unit from 2002 and has been extensively involved in clinical spine research and regenerative medicine, including research into bone and intervertebral disc tissue engineering.

Professor Öner has made substantial contributions to international spine research and education. He was involved in the founding of the international Spine Trauma Study Group and has held leadership positions within AO Spine. He has authored more than 350 scientific publications and has trained and mentored numerous spine surgeons and researchers.

Since becoming emeritus in 2023, he has continued to contribute to spinal surgery through clinical work, research, education and international collaborations.