AxioMed Spine Corp. is up for sale (Crains Cleveland Business)
AxioMed Spine Corp. has been put up for sale by its senior secured lender.
A “core group of employees” continue to run the Garfield Heights-based spinal implant technology company, according to Steve Gerbsman, principal of Gerbsman Partners — the firm hired to sell the company minus its liabilities.
AxioMed raised more than $70 million from investors over the years. The company “is on track to achieve over $1MM during the next 12 months” from sales of its Freedom-brand spinal implants, which are on sale in Europe but not being heavily marketed, according to a letter being sent to potential buyers.
However, the company is still trying to win approval from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration. It has finished enrolling 400 patients in a pivotal U.S. study designed to test its Freedom Lumbar Disc, the letter stated. If that goes well, the FDA could approve the product in 2016 or 2017, which would make it “the first next generation elastomeric disc approved in the U.S.,” according to the letter.
AxioMed was put up for sale by its senior secured lender, Western Technology Investment, a Silicon Valley-based firm that provides equity and debt to high-tech companies.
One local private equity firm, Primus of Mayfield Heights, is listed among AxioMed’s biggest equity investors. Other Ohio-based investors that have backed AxioMed include Early Stage Partners of Cleveland and Reservoir Venture Partners of Columbus.
AxioMed also has received public money. It was awarded two loans worth a total of roughly $1.25 million from the Innovation Ohio Loan Fund. However, the state has a secured lien on some of AxioMed’s fixed assets, the letter states.
AxioMed CEO Patrick McBrayer did not provide comments but directed Crain’s to Steve Gerbsman.
Gerbsman Partners is soliciting investors, customers, competitors and other companies that might be interested in buying AxioMed. Bids are due by Oct. 31.