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ly improve upon existing so-
lutions. His ventures have a
higher degree of innovation.
In Zagreb he dealt with au-
tomation, before completing his
post-graduate studies in Boston
at the famous Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (MIT),
arguably the best technical
school in the world. His teach-
ers from Boston remained loyal
patrons even when he left, as re-
viewers of his independent re-
search projects, even investors
in some of his later business
ventures.
After earning his doctorate
he returned to Zagreb, but re-
gardless of his top marks and
flattering letters of recommen-
dation, they were not willing to
offer him a job there, not even
his old one, in the department
he left to go to America. He
went to a research institution of
the Swiss orthopaedic industry
on “Magic Mountain” in Davos.
Back in Boston he’d con-
structed a radical human artifi-
cial hip (there he dealt with os-
teoarthritis, while his disser-
tation was on mathematically
modelling causes of diseases)
and in Switzerland he had the
opportunity to devote himself
to that – he had at his disposal
a workshop for developing pro-
totypes, alongside mild grum-
bling from the old masters who
were irritated by the young en-
gineer doing everything him-
self on a grinder, and a labora-
tory with animals in which ex-
periments were conducted.
All of his patents have
become the property of the
Institute. What dismayed him,
however, was the fact that his
discoveries were not includ-
ed in medical applications, al-
though the results of his re-
search showed clearly that
they significantly increase the
chances of patients with frac-
tured bones rehabilitating
themselves without complica-
tions and major expenses from
subsequent operations.
Science progressed rap-
idly during those years, but
medicine did not, because
dominant medical corpora-
tions found it more profitable
to exploit existing solutions,
even when they have a statis-
tically unacceptable frequen-
cy of infections occurring, be-
cause there is big money in
their removal, so-called audits,
and repeated fitting. Medicine
does not work on a competi-
tive basis, because everything
is controlled by profession-
al bodies, applying well-estab-
lished procedures and old so-
lutions. If this was also the
norm in the automotive indus-
try, we would still be driving
the Ford Model T, for the price
of a Maybach!
After his career in Davos
Tepić became an independent
consultant and opened his small
firm in Zurich,
Kyon
. Although
he continued engaging in hu-
man medicine and patented nu-
merous revolutionary solutions
for an advanced hip that does
not hinder the whole lifespan, as
well as plates for bones that vir-
tually eliminate the widespread
problem of infection, he quickly
realised that with this he would
not be able to be independent
and stand on his own feet quick-
ly enough.
He opted to move into a
sector that had just emerged –
veterinary prosthetics and trau-
ma rehabilitation, a business
worth $200 million worldwide.
All breeds of noble dogs have
very sensitive hips – instead
of the evolutionary develop-
ment of the most resilient spe-
cies, human engineering creat-
ed breeds that are very likeable,
admirable, cheerful and elegant
dogs that have weak joints. In
the big cities of the West the
four-legged pet population can
equal a quarter of the human
population. People are extreme-
ly attached to their pets, so to-
day the cost of canine pros-
thesis in Switzerland is higher
than those for humans. In the
years of crisis, medical pros-
thetics stagnated, but veterinar-
ian didn’t...
Tepić’s firm controls a quar-
ter of the world’s hip prosthe-
ses market, while it is a leader
in many areas. Licensed veteri-
narians order a variety of bone
and other substitutes, as well
as surgery instruments, while a
few times a year, in Europe and
North America, conferences are
held at which Slobodan dem-
onstrates his latest products.
Around a thousand veterinar-
ians and veterinary clinics are
specialised in the application
of his solutions. From Zurich
and its branch office in Boston,
Kyon
distributes its products to
44 countries.
In parallel with
Kyon
,
operating on a smaller
scale, is his company
Scyon
Orthopaedics
, which has pat-
ents for advanced human
hips. In a clinical study it was
inserted into 15 patients of the
Sisters of Charity Hospital in
Zagreb. The results indicate
the possibility that this rev-
olutionary process could fi-
nally produce a functional re-
placement hip, which will last
a lifetime. This will spare peo-
ple incredible suffering and
save them money and should
soon enter into widespread
use, which would be logical to
expect, though given the high
conservatism of the medical
business it is not quite cer-
tain.
U ispražnjenim fabričkim halama Zulcera,
u centru Ciriha, pre dvadeset godina
nastao je novi, supermoderni kompleks
povezan s visokim tehnologijama – veliki
ciriški Tehnopark u kome se podstiču
mladi preduzetnici s inovativnim
projektima visoke tehnologije.
e
Twenty years ago, in Sulzer’s abandoned
factory halls in the centre of Zurich, a
new, super modern complex linked with
high technologies emerged – the large
Technopark, where young entrepreneurs
with innovative high technology projects
are encouraged.
