WESTMINSTER, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Cerapedics, Inc. announced that it recently completed a Series C round of private equity financing totaling $19 million led by new investors MedImmune Ventures and CVF, LLC, an affiliate of Henry Crown and Company. Existing investors including OrbiMed Advisors and NGN Capital also participated. In conjunction with the financing, Sam Wu, M.D., Ph.D., Managing Director of MedImmune Ventures, joined the Board of Directors.
Proceeds will be used to support the company’s ongoing activities with its current Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) clinical trial in the United States studying its i-FACTOR™ peptide enhanced bone graft for cervical spine applications and prepare for commercialization upon FDA approval. The proceeds will also allow Cerapedics to accelerate the development of next generation products and continue investments in sales and marketing to meet demand for the company’s i-FACTOR bone graft outside the United States.
“We are gratified with the response received from the financial community given the challenging economic environment present industry-wide. It is a direct reflection of the merits of the clinically tested i-FACTOR product portfolio and the team we have put in place globally,” said Paul Mraz, Cerapedics’ President and Chief Executive Officer. “Cerapedics is well-positioned to become a key player in the nearly $2 billion osteobiologics marketplace across spine, trauma and orthopedic reconstruction worldwide.”
Andy Handwerker, Chief Operating Officer at Cerapedics commented: “This financing is solid validation of our proposition to be the second premarket approval (PMA) designated osteobiologic product to address the spine market in the United States and the first to be indicated for use in the cervical spine. Proceeds from this financing will allow Cerapedics to continue to grow sales strategically outside the USA and gather long-term follow-up data from numerous clinical studies for a variety of bone repair indications.”
Cerapedics also announced that the company earlier received agreement from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to proceed with a PMA modular submission for its ongoing IDE clinical trial studying i-FACTOR peptide enhanced bone graft in cervical spine fusion and has commenced that process.
About Cerapedics, Inc.
Cerapedics, a 2012 Colorado Companies to Watch (COCTW) winner, is a privately held medical device company focused on developing and commercializing novel osteobiologic products based on its proprietary anorganic bone mineral (ABM) and synthetic small peptide (P-15™) technology platform for use in a wide variety of spine, trauma and orthopedic surgical procedures. i-FACTOR™ bone graft is the only biologic bone graft that utilizes a synthetic small peptide as an attachment factor intended to stimulate the natural bone healing process resulting in safe, predictable bone formation at a fraction of the cost of growth factors.
Cerapedics’ i-FACTOR bone graft received CE Mark in 2008 and has been utilized clinically in nearly 10,000 spine, trauma, and orthopedic surgeries worldwide. Currently, i-FACTOR bone graft is commercially available in both Putty and Flex (flexible strip) forms in over 25 countries outside the United States. i-FACTOR bone graft is currently being evaluated in the United States (FDA) as part of an Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) clinical trial in the cervical spine.
CAUTION: i-FACTOR™ bone graft is not commercially available in the USA. In the USA i-FACTOR bone graft is an investigational device limited by Federal Law (USA) to investigational use only.
More information can be found at www.cerapedics.com.
About MedImmune Ventures
MedImmune Ventures, a wholly owned global venture capital fund within the AstraZeneca Group, invests in private companies developing small and large molecule therapeutics, pharmaceutical technologies and platforms, medical devices and diagnostics, and imaging and healthcare information technology. MedImmune Ventures’ invests across all therapeutic areas, in companies with early to late stage technologies, from seed through mezzanine rounds of financing. With $400 million under management in an evergreen fund, MedImmune Ventures has invested in over 30 companies since 2002. For more information, see www.medimmuneventures.com.
About NGN Capital
NGN Capital is a global healthcare venture capital investment firm that has investment capabilities across all the major segments in healthcare, including pharmaceuticals, biopharmaceuticals, medical devices, diagnostics and healthcare services. NGN Capital is comprised of a professional team and advisors with exceptional investment and management backgrounds in healthcare and venture capital from leading institutions on a global basis. NGN has offices in New York City; Greenwich, CT and Heidelberg, Germany. More information can be found at www.ngncapital.com.
About OrbiMed Advisors
OrbiMed Advisors is the world's largest healthcare-dedicated investment firm. OrbiMed has been active in private equity since 1993 and invests across the entire spectrum of pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device companies on a worldwide basis. OrbiMed's investment team includes over 60 experienced professionals with offices in New York City, Israel, Shanghai and Mumbai. For more information, visit www.orbimed.com.