Loci Orthopaedics, a Galway-based company, has completed its Series A funding round, securing €12.8 million. This capital will be leveraged to broaden their medical programmes and facilitate product commercialisation. Significant contributors to this funding round included Seroba, a European venture capital firm specialising in life sciences, Johnson & Johnson Innovation, and the European Innovation Council Fund.
The company, co-founded by Gerry Clarke and Dr Brendan Boland, has to date raised over €22 million through various grants and equity financing. Loci Orthopaedics is focused on addressing major untapped clinical demand within the sphere of orthopaedic extremities, and has pioneered an innovative implant for thumb base joint arthritis.
The affliction of thumb base joint arthritis can severely inhibit hand functionality and hamper daily activities like phone usage or writing due to excruciating pain. According to Loci Orthopaedics, approximately 5% of the populace in the US and EU are potentially suffering from this condition.
Their product, the InDx implant, is designed to regain natural movement and overcome the drawbacks of existing implants which often dislocate or move after being implanted. The CEO Barry Russell expressed the company’s eagerness to collaborate with their esteemed investment groups, and optimistically commented on the potential of this promising new solution to meet the needs of many currently neglected patients and physicians seeking viable treatment alternatives.
Having originated from NUI Galway, UCC and KU Leuven in Belgium, Loci Orthopaedics is now setting its sights on generating additional clinical evidence to support future regulatory submissions. Already, the company has finished registration for a clinical trial involving 15 patients to evaluate the InDx implant’s performance in terms of improving pain management, grip enhancement and life quality in patients afflicted with thumb base arthritis, along with the surgical application of the device. They anticipate the results by the end of this year.
Maud Lazare, Head of Investor Relations at Seroba, demonstrated enthusiasm for working with a company that could bring about positive disruption in the burgeoning field of orthopaedic extremities, especially in relation to one of the most commonly performed surgical procedures within this domain.