Orthos launches bone substitute
Med-tech company Orthos has launched a bone substitute after receiving a funding boost to back its skeletal injury product development.
The Cwmbran spine and orthopaedic medical device company has received £835,000 support to bring its ßGel synthetic bone substitute to market.
The bone substitute, which can be moulded by hand, has been formulated for treating spinal bone defects and minimises infection risks associated with bone implant surgery.
Current estimates of the value of synthetic bone products is estimated at 60m euro (£49.8m) for Western Europe and forecast to grow at 13% each year for the next six years.
The worldwide market for synthetic bone grafts is thought to be worth more than $200m (£125.4m). It is estimated that 63% of this market is for spinal surgery.
Orthos was founded by Alan Rorke in 1998 and moved to Cwmbran from Bristol recently.
The company secured a £500,000 equity investment from Finance Wales as well as a £60,000 business angel follow-on investment and £275,000 Welsh Assembly Government funding.
Orthos also has a range of proprietary orthobiologic products focused on skeletal defect repair and spinal fusion either on sale or in development. It will use the investment to support sales of its current products and to develop new orthobiologic products.
Launching the bone substitute comes after the company announced changes to its management team, with the appointment of Robert Welsh as its chief executive and Prof Christina Doyle as a non-executive director.
Mr Welsh was previously managing director of Corin Limited and Ms Doyle, formerly of Stryker, is chief executive of Xeno Medical and an international authority on artificial bone, vertebroplasty – a procedure to relieve pain associated with fractured vertebrae – and orthobiologics.
Orthos chairman and Corin Group founder, Peter Gibson, said: “Synthetic bone substitutes are increasingly being used surgically. Surgeons are keenly adopting new implant and surgical techniques, particularly in spinal surgery.
“Orthos’ product range already includes a number of products with regulatory approval and global revenues, such as our OsteoBoost bone marrow aspiration kit.
“Finance Wales’ investment comes at an exciting stage in Orthos’ development and will enable us to expand our range of products by accelerating the commercialisation of additional products. We’ve also strengthened our management team to underpin our com- pany’s future development.”
Dr Richard Thompson, early stage investment manager at Finance Wales, said: “Orthos has a strong management team and has established relationships with a number of universities to develop its intellectual property.
“It also has a track record of identifying and developing inn- ovative orthobiologic products, a number of which are already on sale. Finance Wales’ investment will enable the company to commercialise further innovative products and bring them to market as well as to target new markets.”
Orthos now plans to enter the rapidly-growing vertebral compression fracture market with an estimated 700,000 fractures per year in the US and 850,000 per year in Europe. Vertebral compression fractures are commonly the result of osteoporosis and are increasingly prevalent and debilitating in an ageing population.
Ieuan Wyn Jones, minister for the economy and transport, said: “I’m pleased that the Welsh Assembly Government has been able to support Orthos. Wales has become home to an increasing number of technologically advanced med-tech companies like Orthos.
“These companies have the potential to make a real impact, not only in the global medical market, but also on the economy of Wales.
“The Welsh Assembly Government under its economic renewal programme will continue to provide and encourage the right type of environment for these types of businesses to grow and prosper and I am delighted with the funding from the Assembly Government and Finance Wales.”
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11 August 2010
Source: Wales Online
