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September 9, 2020 Bioscience

New Haven startup raises $3.5M for device to improve knee surgery

IMAGE | CONTRIBUTED
By Natalie Missakian

A New Haven company that is developing technology that aims to speed the recovery time for a common knee surgery said Wednesday it has raised $3.5 million.

The latest seed financing brings medical device startup Biorez Inc.’s total venture capital raise to $7 million, according to the company. 

New York Angels led the funding round, with participation from Pritzker Vlock Family Office, Brainchild Holdings, the Vertical Group and Connecticut Innovations, the state’s venture capital arm. 

Biorez CEO Kevin Rocco told New Haven Biz that the company will use the funding to help advance its product, BioBrace, toward FDA clearance and an expected commercial launch next year.  The device aims to improve the success rate for ACL surgery, which repairs the anterior cruciate ligament in the knee. 

“Our vision is to help surgeons help patients return to normal activity sooner and safer,” Rocco  said. 

According to Biorez, the BioBrace is a highly porous collagen sponge reinforced with polymer microfilaments that can be dissolved or absorbed by the body. 

In traditional ACL surgery, tissue grafts either from the patient or a donor are used to replace the ruptured ligament, a common sports injury. The body then repopulates it with new cells and blood vessels to build a new ACL.

But the procedure typically requires a long recovery time and has a high failure rate, Biorez said. In many cases, outcomes initially look good but diminish over time, Rocco said.  

The BioBrace acts as a scaffold to reinforce the tissue grafts and assist with the regeneration of host tissue before ultimately being “resorbed,” the company said.

“BioBrace has the potential to create a new category of implant materials known as “biocomposites” that contain both biologic and synthetic materials,” Rocco said in a statement. “This rationally-designed approach creates an opportunity for more durable surgical repairs and faster healing, which we intend to prove clinically.” 

Biorez also sees potential for the device to be used for other common tendon and ligament procedures, such as rotator cuff repair and Achilles tendon surgery.

Biorez anticipates obtaining FDA clearance to market the device to its first patients by the first half of 2021, Rocco said.

Based at the District innovation campus at 470 James Street, Biorez was founded in 2016 following a rebrand of its predecessor company, Soft Tissue Regeneration.

Contact Natalie Missakian at news@newhavenbiz.com

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