KICVentures Announces Five New Developments in Spine Surgery

KICVentures, a Boston-based private investment firm leading in healthcare technology, announced today five exciting new developments in spine surgery in the areas of Motion Preservation and Biologics.

The first development is that AxioMed has completed and published its cervical pre-clinical study in Europe and now has developed the protocol to start the cervical IDE with indications for 3-levels and adjacent level to a fusion. Professor Dr. K. Daniel Riew, a global leader in cervical spine surgery and an investor in AxioMed, helped the company design the cervical multi-level protocol. AxioMed’s viscoelastic total spinal disc replacement was first conceived by Dr. Art Steffee in the early 1980s, he called it Acroflex. Acroflex was made of rubber core, but after implanting it in only six patients it began to fail. In 2001 the engineers who worked with Dr. Steffee founded AxioMed to develop an improved version of the Acroflex TDR. The AxioMed disc had a silicone polymer core which behaved identically to the natural human disc in biomechanical studies. Despite raising over $75 million, AxioMed encountered financial difficulties, so in 2014 KICVentures bought AxioMed and financed the completion of the lumbar IDE study, collecting greater than 90% of 2-year and 5-year follow-up data.

The second development is that AxioMed has designed and biomechanically tested a lateral lumbar disc and noted higher performance compared to the anterior disc. AxioMed plans on a 2020 USA launch of the anterior and lateral lumbar discs. The AxioMed launch strategy has begun with the training of selected surgeons who will be the only ones to have access to the Freedom Disc when it is released. Training is a requirement to use the AxioMed Freedom Disc.

The third development is a facet stabilization device based on the pivotal patent from Cleveland Clinic for posterior dynamic and facet stabilization. The KICVentures company FacetMotion will be offered along with the anterior and lateral AxioMed Freedom Discs as a 360-degree solution instead of fusion. FacetMotion has been prototyped and preliminary dynamic testing results are promising. The company is targeting a CE mark in 2020.

The fourth development is the expansion of NanoFUSE Biologics which KICVentures acquired in 2018. NanoFUSE is considered the most advanced combination in orthobiologics. It is the only bioactive glass that is FDA-cleared to be combined with DBM. Supportive pre-clinical animal studies in rats and rabbits, as well as clinical use in hundreds of surgeries, has convinced surgeons across all orthopedic practices to convert to NanoFUSE -including Orthopedic Spine Surgeon Dr. Kingsley Chin. NanoFUSE is indicated for use in all orthopedics and is being utilized in extremity, sports medicine, joint, and spine surgeries. NanoFUSE Biologics is currently available and is being used by a growing number of surgeons.

The fifth development is that KICVentures is raising $25 million to bring each of these four developments to market. The funds will be used to complete the AxioMed multi-level cervical IDE and immediately grow revenues for NanoFUSE, AxioMed, and SpineFrontier outside the USA. Revenues will be reinvested into each company to grow their value. KICVentures continues to successfully raise funds primarily from physicians who a minimum of $25,000.

About KICVentures 
KICVentures is a private investment company founded in 2005 by Harvard-trained Orthopedic Surgeon & Professor Dr. Kingsley R. Chin, who brings unique experience at the intersection of medicine, business and information technology. KICVentures is equipped with a strong advantage in identifying niche healthcare opportunities, headquartered in Boston, Mass.

About AxioMed 
AxioMed was founded to advance the standard of care for patients with degenerative spine conditions by progressing spine technology beyond fusion and first-generation artificial discs. Led by an experienced surgeon team and utilizing patented viscoelastic polymer technology, AxioMed has developed the next generation of artificial discs. AxioMed completed its U.S. IDE for the Lumbar Disc with over five years of clinical follow-up.

About FacetMotion 
FacetMotion was founded to restore total segmental motion in the spine. Facet replacement solutions were first patented by KICVentures in 2002. FacetMotion combined with the AxioMed Freedom disc replacement creates a paradigm shift in treating spine disease.

About NanoFUSE Biologics 
NanoFUSE is the synergistic blend of osteoinductive DBM combined with the osteostimulative properties of bioactive glass. NanoFUSE is the only FDA-cleared combination of DBM and bioactive glass and is indicated for use in all orthopedic surgery. NanoFUSE Biologics is a KICVentures portfolio company, distributed by SpineFrontier.