Startup Losers in 2010-2009

 

 

  Applied Spine Technologies (Rocky Hill, CT)

Asset sale  Gerbsman Partners

 

  NovaLign Orthopaedics, Inc. (Memphis, TN)

NovaLign assets sold to Sonoma Orthpedics for an undisclosed sum in October, 2010.
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  Hydrocision (Boston)

Assets sold August 2010

BioSyntech

Never got traction with their BST-CarGel cartilage repair product.  This Canadian public company’s stock (TSX: BSY) dropped to pennies. Then declared bankruptcy on May 12, 2010.  Delisted on May 18. PWC managed the sale of all assets to Piramal for $3.7M in June 2010.  Superior Court authorizes the sale of BioSyntech’s Assets (NewsWire)

Disc Dynamics (Eden Praire, MN)

After failure to obtain FDA approval for it pivotal study, on Dec 31, 2009 terminated all employees adn discontinued clinical studies.  Back in 2000, they raised $65M to fund the development of DASCOR, a disc arthroplasty system. http://spineblogger.blogspot.com/2010/01/disc-dynamics-rip.html

Archus logo

Archus Orthopedics (Seattle)

Abruptly went on life support May 19, 2009 http://budurl.com/vwdy.

Disolved the company assets Sept 3, 2009 http://ow.ly/nWpg. Facet Solutions purchased their IP.  Archus was a promising spine startup with the first facet replacement arthroplasty in trials. They cut almost entire Seattle staff of 45. Archus raised more than $63M since its founding in 2001 (MPM Capital, InterWest Partners, Polaris Venture Partners, and JNJ Development Corporation) Last month, Archus’ investors put in another $2.3 million  bridge financing, although the company was aiming to raise $19.5M.  http://www.archusorthopedics.com

 

 

Pegasus logo

Pegasus Biologics (Irvine, CA)

Bankrupt on May 15, 2009

Abruptly closed doors after failing to secure a bridge loan. OrthoAdapt was sold for musculoskeletal soft tissue repair in over 11,000 soft tissue musculoskeletal repair procedures. $63M was raised since it founding in 2004. Synovis Life Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: SYNO) bought all of the assets in July 2009 for $12.1M.  http://budurl.com/dnl3    http://www.pegasusbio.com    http://ow.ly/hQAz

Inion logo

Inion Ltd (Finland)

Bankrupt May 31, 2010.  Originally went on life support March 26, 2009 when Inion laid off employees, delisted from London Stock Exchange (LSE: IIN.L), and is currently selling off assets.  Inion was a promising trauma company with resorbable bone plates. Stryker distributed their implants in the US, Aesculap and Citagenix distributed OUS. Richard Wolf Medical Instruments distributed resorbable Sports Med products in the US. Inion raised a total of $100M in VC funding. Assets for Sale  http://ow.ly/dXC8  http://www.inion.fi/

Vertebron logoVertebron (Stanford, CT)

Bankrupt on Feb 20, 2009.  In Oct 2009, Cardo Medical purchases assets of bankrupt Vertebron for only $1.3M cash at auction. Vertebron had many spine technologies, including artificial discs, cervical plates, pedicle screw systems, and inter-body fusion systems that integrated spinal, orthopaedic devices, and surgical technologies. Opinion is that they could not get sales traction with their many spine products. Founded in 2003.  http://budurl.com/csua

IST logo Innovative Spinal Technologies or IST Spine (Mansfield, MA)

Bankrupt on Jan 27, 2009

$75M was raised since it was spun out of Texas Back Institute in 2002. Funding included a $6.2 million Series A round raised shortly after the company was spun out by the Texas Back Institute in 2002; a $39 million Series B round in 2005, the same year the company moved from Plano, TX, to Mansfield; an $18 million Series C round last September; and a previously undisclosed $10 million venture debt deal.

Opinion is that a series of poor management decisions lead to its downfall including out-of-control spending and a complete change in their distribution model.  http://budurl.com/7j3u   http://budurl.com/wp6s

February 22, 2012

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