OrthoSon has announced the completion of a £8.9m Series A financing round to help prepare its proprietary back pain treatment for Phase I trials in the US.
New international investors in this expanded round include the Greek technology venture capital firm Big Pi Ventures and the Chinese investment company Yonghua Capital.
Plans for the investment include completion of preclinical safety studies, plus regulatory activity to prepare for US clinical trials which are expected to take place from 2024. This, says the company, will be followed by European and international clinical trials supporting a global launch.
Aristos Doxiadis, partner at Big Pi Ventures, and Wang Chong, venture partner at Yonghua Capital, also join OrthoSon’s board as director and observer respectively.
OthoSon’s back pain treatment is based on ultrasound and in-situ curing hydrogel implants to replace degenerated spinal discs.
The firm says it expects its spinal disc restoration approach to be disruptively cost effective and safe compared with current surgical approaches, allowing patients to be treated in a minimally invasive way on a day-case basis with an anticipated reduction in both complications and use of opioid pain medication.
Rich Simmonds, CEO of OrthoSon, said: “This oversubscribed Series A round will take our novel motion-restoring spinal treatment through preclinical trials ahead of clinical trials in the US and internationally.
“OrthoSon would like to thank existing investors for their support and welcome new investors, including Big Pi Ventures and Yonghua Capital, to the company. We look forward to working with them as we develop our innovative technology to treat thousands of patients with crippling lower back pain.”
Doxiadis commented: “We like to invest in companies which have strong technologies, teams and market positions, and OrthoSon has all of these. Big Pi Ventures believes its product will have a significant impact on the back pain market, improving quality of life for sufferers and reducing healthcare costs and disability.”
“As experienced investors in novel medical technology, we are excited by the potential of OrthoSon’s novel solution to the global problem of back pain,” added Chong. “We are enthusiastic about the progress in focused ultrasound therapy and Yonghua is looking forward to working with the company to bring this product to the market.”
