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SEATTLE (PRWEB) January 02, 2018
AngelMD, a platform that connects medial startups with doctors that provide guidance and investors that provide funding, today announced that its group of physician and investor members has completed a funding round for Articulus Bio, LLC. Articulus Bio is a seed-stage orthopedic medical device company focused on total ankle replacement (TAR). The (patent-pending) Articulus Bio technology takes a unique engineering approach toward solving the problems behind the majority of total joint replacement failures.
While total joint replacement surgeries are seen as a rousing success in the world of orthopedics, they are not without their own issues. Approximately one million hip and knee replacement procedures are performed each year and as many as 50,000 of these cases will likely fail within 10 years. Ankle joint failure rates are considerably more prevalent than the hip and knee, and some ankle devices may have failure rates as high as 40 percent within five to ten years.
The first area of focus for Articulus Bio is to address the wear debris issue -- either metal on metal or metal on plastic -- caused by friction occurring at the articulating faces of joint surfaces. These wear particles circulate through the body and often cause an immunological response known as osteolysis. The debris “eats away” where the implant junction interfaces with the body, causing a loosening of the implant that ultimately leads to the need for a revision surgery.
“It has been a privilege to collaborate with AngelMD on advancing our Tendonoid™ Web Joint technology," said Adam Rubenstein, CEO of Articulus Bio. "Our mission is to improve outcomes and quality of life for total joint replacement patients. That requires access to capital, but for us, it's just as essential to engage the intellectual and technical horsepower of the orthopedic surgeon community to help guide our development. AngelMD played an invaluable role in facilitating these pivotal relationships for us while assisting raising the capital we needed.”
While the Articulus Bio team remains focused on the development of their TAR product, the company has a parallel goal of deploying their platform-based Tendonoid™ Web Joint System across a host of large and small joint sites. The technology utilizes a novel configuration of the previously FDA approved Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene (UHMWPE) biomaterial spun into the Tendonoid Web Joint System structure. The Tendonoid Web Joint System is designed to reduce/eliminate friction/grinding at the articulating joint faces that are observed in prior generations of devices. When the friction/grinding is reduced/eliminated, so too is the wear debris.
"In conversations with physicians and industry experts focused on Total Ankle Replacements, the feedback on the design of this new generation of TAR shows potential for a substantial leap forward in improving patient outcomes and reducing complication,” said Mark Mescher, Sr. Vice President of Professional Relations for AngelMD.
The team is raising capital in order to address specific seed-stage milestones that, on the other side of completion, will inject material value into the company. First they will capture performance data of the Tendonoid™ sub-assembly components. Second, they will prepare and submit a Q-Sub meeting package to FDA and receive regulatory pathway guidance from the agency. Finally, they will continue to build out their intellectual property portfolio.
The goal of Articulus Bio, as the future takes shape, is to take what the company learns from their TAR cases and apply it to many other large and small joints throughout the body. This should allow for total joint replacement surgeries, without the risk of wear debris, to become as commonplace as those performed on hips.
About AngelMD
AngelMD is an investment and networking platform connecting innovative medical startups, physicians, investors, and industry partners. Leading physicians from all over the US have joined AngelMD to help source, evaluate and advise companies in biotechnology, medical device, and healthcare technology. For more information, visit http://www.angelmd.co.
About Articulus Bio, LLC
Articulus Bio, LLC is a seed-stage orthopedic medical device company focused on total ankle replacement (TAR). The (patent-pending) Articulus Bio technology takes a unique engineering approach toward solving the problems behind the majority of total joint replacement failures.