Disclaimer: I have no financial interest, just trying to help out an ortho startup with an exit.
Eight years is a long time to push a shoulder implant through design, patents, cadaver labs, an FDA Breakthrough Device designation, and a first peer-reviewed biomechanics paper — only to run out of runway before first-in-human.
That is what just happened at Reach Orthopaedics Inc. in Halifax.
The company posted that it is ceasing operations. Seed interest existed, but it was not enough to fund a first-in-human study. The team remains confident in the product and is seeking an organization to acquire the assets and continue development.
I am publishing this as a free public service. I have no fee, no success commission, and no retainer from Reach. I advocate for orthopedic startups. When credible IP and data hit a funding wall, the industry should see it before it disappears into a drawer.
What Reach Ortho Built
Reach developed a rigid, scapular-fixed subacromial implant for massive irreparable rotator cuff tears (MIRCT) in active patients aged 40–70 — the population sitting between a repairable tear and reverse total shoulder arthroplasty (rTSA).
The concept is me...
