Bone Biologics, which is focused on orthobiologic regenative medicine, has raised $5.75 million in order to further develop its syntheses of a bone graft substitute that would be used in spinal fusion procedures.
The funding round comes from proceeds from Musculoskeletal Transplant Foundation, OrthoFix Holdings, Inc. and Hankey Capital, LLC.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
The product, Nell-1, is a recombinant human protein growth factor that is essential for normal bone development, and it’s a potential alternative to other bone growth factors used in surgical procedures currently. Essentially, Nell-1 accelerates bone growth beyond the normal healing processes.
When used by a surgeon, the Nell-1 protein will be provided freeze dried on tricalsium phosphate, and it will be sold in a kit with a diluent and a syringe of FDA cleared demineralized bone putty. When mixed together, the surgeon can use the device.
So far, the product has been used in lab animal testing and looks to provide a significant beneficial asset for how surgeons perform these kind of spinal surgeries. The Company was founded in 2004 by Dr. Kang (Eric) Ting, (Chair of UCLA Department of Surgery & Director of UCLA Laboratory for Craniofacial Anomalies at the Dental And Craniofacial Research Institute) Dr. Chia Soo, (Vice-Chair UCLA Hospital Dept of Orthopedic Surgery) and Dr. Ben Wu (Chair of the UCLA Dept of Bioengineering).
Photo: Flickr user Michael Dorausch
