Musculoskeletal News Roundup 22-Sept-11
BY LAUREN UZDIENSKI, SEPTEMBER 22, 2011
Funding
Simpirica Spine closed a $22.0 million Series C round of venture funding. The round was led by new investor Norwest Venture Partners, who were joined by De Novo Ventures and U.S. Venture Partners. Funds will be used to support the European commercialization of the company's lead product, the LimiFlex Spinal Stabilization System, which is used in conjunction with decompression for the treatment of lumbar spinal stenosis.
TranS1 priced a public offering of 6,200,000 shares of its common stock at $3.25 per share. TranS1 has granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to 930,000 additional shares of common stock to cover over-allotments, if any. The gross proceeds to TranS1 from the sale of shares, before expenses and any over-allotment exercise, are expected to be $20.2 million. The closing of the offering is expected to take place on September 26, 2011. Piper Jaffray & Co. is acting as the sole book-running manager for the offering and Canaccord Genuity is acting as co-manager.
Product Introduction and Update
MAKO Surgical launched the RIO Robotic Arm Interactive Orthopedic System for use in total hip replacement procedures, called MAKOplasty Total Hip Arthroplasty. The company says that MAKOplasty Total Hip Arthroplasty offers a pre-operative 3-D reconstruction of the patient's hip and a patient-specific surgical plan. The robotic-arm then assists the surgeon during the procedure to prepare the joint and place the implants, which "may reduce potential complications associated with conventional hip replacement surgery."
Legal
A jury found that NuVasive infringed three Medtronic patents, awarding Medtronic a $101.2 million settlement. NuVasive must also pay Medtronic up to a 10% royalty on patents on which it infringed. The products affected include the NuVasive CoRentXL cervical interbody spacer product, MaXcess, which allows lateral access to the thoracic spine, and Helix, a plating system for the cervical spine. NuVasive was awarded $0.7 million in damages for Medtronic's infringement of a fourth patent relating to the NIM-Eclipse System. This case is the first in a series of patent infringement accusations; decisions on six more potential violations are expected over the next few months.
Shoulder Innovations filed a patent infringement suit against Ascension Orthopedics relating to the glenoid component of its total shoulder system. The news comes one week after Integra announced plans to acquire Ascension.
Clinical
TiGenix noted the publication of five-year ChondroCelect data in the American Journal of Sports Medicine. The multi-center, prospective, randomized controlled trial was designed to assess safety and efficacy of ChondroCelect for the treatment of symptomatic cartilage defects in the knee compared to microfracture. The latest analysis confirms that the therapeutic effect and the clinical benefit of ChondroCelect gained over baseline at 12 and 36 months is maintained up to at least five years after the cartilage repair intervention.
