Vertera Spine, a spinal implant developer base on Duke and Georgia Tech research, has been picked up shortly after receiving regulatory approval for two products.
US-based spinal implant spinout Vertera Spine has been acquired by medical device developer Nuvasive for an undisclosed sum, allowing Duke University and Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) to exit.
The spinout is based on research by Ken Gall, a specialist in materials science, mechanical properties, metals and polymers, who started at Georgia Tech but now chairs Duke University’s Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science.
Both Georgia Tech and Duke University played a role during the intellectual property’s development through local commercialisation vehicles.
Georgia Research Alliance, which partners several universities in the state, provided support on Vertera Spine’s launch, while Duke Angel Network (DAN), backed by the university’s entrepreneurial community, added funding later.
Vertera Spine is the first vendor licensed by US regulator Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of spinal cage implants made entirely from porous polyetheretherketone (Peek), an alternative to the porous metal which is typically harder to pick up in scans.
Nuvasive will add Vertera’s two FDA-approved products to its distribution portfolio following the transaction, building its position in the spinal materials segment.
Vertera Spine had previously closed a $3.1m round in May 2017 featuring 29 unidentified investors. DAN contributed to a round of undisclosed size in February 2016 and has reportedly contributed to two rounds in total.
Gall, now chief technology officer of another orthopaedic device developer, MedShape, said: “The end result of this fundamental materials work was the first load bearing porous polymer scaffold used in the human body that is both high-strength and finely tuned to promote bony attachment.”
