D.C.’s Nanochon LLC just got a step closer in its quest to get a 3D-printed implant to market — thanks to $2 million in fresh funding and the potential to raise more.
The company’s seed round, led by University of Virginia Licensing & Ventures Group’s seed fund, closed at $2 million in September, Nanochon co-founder and CEO Ben Holmes said in an interview. And it’s oversubscribed, now in the process of raising more before a second close.
The backing positions Nanochon, one of our 2021 Startups to Watch, “to do everything we need to do to be ready to go to the clinic,” Holmes said. The goal: start enrolling its first patients for a phase 1 trial in early 2023.
To get there, the firm plans to do one more animal study, to assess the product’s performance in horses, and perform additional safety testing required to get a regulatory green light. The work also involves manufacturing and validating the device, which replaces lost or damaged cartilage as an alternative to replacement surgeries.
Nanochon is doing that with Bio Convergence Co. (BICO), after striking a $1.5 million commercial agreement for the Swedish biotech to develop the implants. BICO, which rebranded from Cellink earlier this year, said it’s also investing $400,000 in the seed round.