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| Ceterix's NovoStitch suture passer--Courtesy of Ceterix |
Ceterix Orthopaedics reeled in $35 million to bolster development of its arthroscopic surgical tools as it strives to bring its meniscal repair device to market.
The Menlo Park, CA-based company secured the funds through a term loan agreement with healthcare investment firm CRG and some of its affiliates, and plans to use the financing to scale its product for meniscal tears, CEO John McCutcheon told FierceMedicalDevices. Ceterix's current version of the device, NovoStitch, allows surgeons to treat complex soft tissue injuries by placing stitches in tight joint compartments. The first generation device is cleared for sale in the U.S. for placing suture through soft tissue in orthopaedic surgery. This includes procedures such as knee meniscus, hip and shoulder labrum, and rotator cuff repairs.
"This funding gives us a financial means of executing on our plan," McCutcheon said. "There's a large unmet clinical opportunity to preserve the meniscus, and this gives us the ability to execute on that. It's a difficult space to work in, and so we see lots of opportunity to perfect our device."
Ultimately, the company hopes its device could save menisci before patients need knee-replacement surgeries or implants. If all goes according to plan, Ceterix will score FDA approval for its next-generation system by the end of this year, McCutcheon said.
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| Ceterix CEO John McCutcheon |
The latest slate of financing bodes well for Ceterix as it continues to gain ground for its innovative surgical tools. Last May, the company snagged $18 million in funding from investors such as Novo A/S, Versant Ventures and 5AM Ventures to support commercialization of its devices. Ceterix had already roped in $27.6 million in VC financing prior to that round, helping it cash in on a global arthroscopic implants market forecast to grow to $3.4 billion by 2020.
But Ceterix faces competition from other med tech outfits looking to jump on the bandwagon. Smaller outfits like Scottsdale, AZ-based Cayenne Medical and Conmed ($CNMD) are beefing up their sports medicine offerings, and larger companies are also vying for their piece of the pie. In February 2014, U.K. device giant Smith & Nephew ($SNN) snatched up Texas device company ArthroCare for $1.7 billion to diversify its portfolio. S&N CEO Olivier Bohuon told Bloomberg that the deal "rebalances Smith & Nephew in areas of higher growth."
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