German medtech startups are making waves in the healthcare industry, the latest one is Inovedis, which has closed €4 million in a Series A funding round. The existing seed round investors, including High-Tech Gründerfonds known for investing in Traceless Materials and Supportwave, MBG Mittelständische Beteiligungsgesellschaft Baden-Württemberg, Volksbank Albstadt ChancenKapital, and Start-UP BW Innovation Fonds participated in the round.
Also, it saw contributions from angel investors and an initial investment by Renolit SE, the current manufacturer of the SINEFIX implant.
Taking SINEFIX implant tech to the US
With this fresh capital, Inovedis plans to support the commercial launch of the SINEFIX implant system in the US where there are over 1 million rotator cuff surgeries each year. Furthermore, the funding will also go towards sponsoring a clinical study in Germany to generate data needed to support CE marking and sales expansion into Europe. Currently, this implant is not approved for sale outside the US.
Commenting on its plan, Lukas Flöss, Founder and CEO at Inovedis said, “The new funding brings significant financial capital to accelerate the launch of SINEFIX and innovations that promote improvements in the way rotator cuff tears are treated today. We are looking forward to starting a limited market release in the U.S. to begin gathering experience around SINEFIX and working on future product generations.”
Minimises invasive surgery for tears
The Albstadt-based startup was founded In 2019 by trauma and orthopaedic surgeon Dr. Stefan Welte and entrepreneur Lukas Floess. They had already been working on how tendon fixation could be optimised for several years and came up with the SINEFIX implant system.
This device helps attach a shoulder tendon to the bone using an easier surgery method. It’s simpler and needs fewer surgical tools. One doesn’t have to deal with tricky stitching and tying knots, which takes a lot of time and different instruments.
Prof. Dr. Philip Kasten, orthopedic surgeon and lead investigator in the SINEFIX CE mark clinical study said, “Approximately 70% of all patients have a partial thickness rotator cuff tear, while only 28% have a full thickness tear. SINEFIX offers an effective treatment solution for small and partial-thickness tears. In contrast to current treatment options, there is no need to detach the tendon completely prior to reattachment, and fills an important gap in treating rotator cuff patients.”
“The SINEFIX surgical technique will shorten the procedure time and potentially improve the tendon to bone fixation while using less implants,” said Dr. Stefan Welte, inventor of SINEFIX and co-founder. “This is due to the higher pull-out forces than double row fixation with suture anchors allowing the implant to be used in porous bones. This simplified technique is designed to reduce the risk of complications due to surgical errors and significantly shortens surgery time, contributing to time and cost savings in clinical surgeries.”
