ATLANTA – MedShape Solutions Inc. has closed on $10 million in equity backing from private investors and received U.S. Food and Drug Administration clearance to market its PEEK orthopedic shape memory material.

“This recent round of financing will allow MedShape to bring forward several unique shape memory orthopedic devices that will improve patient outcomes and improve surgical procedures,” said Kurt Jacobus, PhD, President & CEO.

Founded in Boulder, Colorado in 2005, the now Atlanta-headquartered company previously raised a total of $13.5 million including this round.

“PEEK Altera is a proprietary shape memory material that will allow us to develop devices that will be ‘dynamic’ in nature versus the current PEEK technology which is ‘static’,” said MedShape COO Chris Fair.

Fair tells TechJournal South the 25-employee company anticipates adding from six to ten people in the next 12 months.

Over $2.5B of current PEEK-based implants are sold every year in the field of orthopedics. These devices range from spinal cages to suture anchors and across all sectors of orthopedics.

The new PEEK technology offers advantages. Fair says, “Shape memory allows us to design and develop implants that can enter a cavity or bony tunnel in one diameter and deploy them to a much larger size. This shape change can drastically improve the strength profile of the device as well as improve the delivery environment.”

“What is unique about the Morphix(TM) device is the simplicity of its design coupled with outstanding performance when compared to competitive devices,” stated orthopedic surgeon Bill Bryan, MD, Houston, TX.

“I love the fact that the dynamic nature of the implant allows it to adjust to the surrounding changes in the bone that occur after cyclic loading. The Morphix(TM) is the only implant I am aware of that can do this.”

Online: www.medhshapesolutions.com

© 2009, TechJournal South. All rights reserved.