L-R: Dr Brendan Boland, co-founder and executive chairperson, Gerry Clarke, co-founder and CTO, Barry Russell, chief executive, Fiona Mangan, design engineer and John Egan, technical operations director
Medical device company Loci Orthopaedics has raised €12.8m in a Series A funding round.
The company, a spinout from the University of Galway, University College Cork and Belgian university KU Leuven, develops technologies which target unmet clinical needs in orthopaedics extremities.
Its primary device, known as the InDx implant system, is an implant for thumb base joint arthritis.
The implant looks to replicate the functional biomechanics of the joint at the base of the thumb and focuses on restoring natural motion.
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Loci reported that existing thumb implants on the market are prone to both dislocation and movement following the implantation.
Last October, Loci completed enrolment of 15 patients for a clinical study linked to the company’s implant system, with results expected to be published later this year.
The new funding will see the company develop additional clinical data to support applications for regulatory approval, as well as introducing the technology into different geographies.
The financing round was led by Johnson & Johnson Innovation, the European Innovation Council Fund and venture capital fund Seroba.
“This funding will enable us to expand our clinical programs, submit regulatory approval applications in the US and EU and accelerate our efforts towards future commercialisation,” co-founder and executive chairperson Dr Brendan Boland said.
“The company is excited to work with three very experienced and well respected investment groups to help the company bring a promising new solution to market to help the many currently underserved patients and their surgeons with a joint sparing treatment option,” added chief executive Barry Russell.
Seroba’s head of investor relations Maud Lazare added that the solution may “positively disrupt the future treatment landscape for one of the most frequently performed surgeries in this space.”
