Pittsburgh Business Times by Malia Spencer, Reporter
With an eye toward a European launch, life sciences company Flexuspine Inc. has raised $2.1 million from its existing investors, the company disclosed in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The Green Tree company is developing a Functional Spinal Unit, which could be used to replace spinal fusion surgery. The company’s FSU product is an implant that replaces the entire lumbar segment in the spine giving a patient a fuller range of motion than existing surgery.
The company, which was founded in 2004, has already submitted its paperwork for approval in Europe, said President and CEO Vincent Jannetty. This additional $2.1 million is on top of a series B round that was already raised, but Jannetty wouldn’t give any more details.
The money will be used for pilot studies and to help launch in Europe, provided the product receives its approval from the European Union.
Investors in the company include ONSET Ventures, who was just in town talking about what makes a company attractive; The Vertical Group; and Warburg Pincus.
To get the company off the ground, Jannetty hasn’t used too many of the region’s startup resources but has instead tapped his own deep network in the spinal world. He was able to get ONSET Ventures, who was the first investor in his previous company Spinal Concepts, involved early and that in turn led to the others.
So far, Flexuspine has conducted pilot projects in the U.S., Europe and South Africa. For now, the company is focused on its potential European business and will look at the FDA after that.
