Locate Bio, an orthobiologics focused regenerative medicine company, has raised an oversubscribed £10 million of equity investment in a funding round co-led by existing shareholder Mercia Asset Management and new investor BGF.
The funding will be used to further advance Locate Bio’s proprietary pipeline of regenerative orthobiologics products towards patients, with key clinical and regulatory milestones expected to catalyse growth over the next two years.
The investment brings the total funds raised by Locate Bio to over £18 million. The company’s lead product in development is called LDGraft, and is a low dose, controlled release rhBMP-2 for the treatment of degenerative disc disease. In September 2020, Locate Bio in-licensed multiple late-stage orthobiologics assets from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland’s (RCSI) University of Medicine and Health Sciences. The acquisition of these products significantly accelerated Locate Bio’s ambitions of building a world-leading, diversified orthobiologics company.
Locate Bio aims to develop a suite of best-in-class technologies that address the performance limitations of existing products and enable orthopaedic surgeons to improve the lives of people suffering from debilitating conditions. The company is making good progress against this objective and received two breakthrough device designations from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration at the start of 2021 for CognitOss and Chondro3, a biomimetic graft for osteochondral lesions.
CognitOss is a single-stage therapy that combines the local delivery of therapeutically appropriate levels of antibiotics from a ‘smart material’ that is designed to be responsive to the presence of infection and promote the regeneration of bone. It is designed to treat osteomyelitis, a debilitating inflammatory bone infection.
John von Benecke, CEO of Locate Bio, said: “This investment round is truly transformational for Locate Bio and I would like to thank Mercia for their continued support and collaboration and to welcome BGF. We are developing a suite of promising next-generation orthobiologics products that have the potential to disrupt the market and bring significant benefits to patients with debilitating conditions.
“Following our spin out from The University of Nottingham’s internationally recognised School of Pharmacy, we bring the strength of controlled drug delivery, to the principally medical device field of orthopaedics.
“We have continued to make good progress in our strategy of building a world leading, diversified orthobiologics business, which has resulted in this oversubscribed funding round. This financing will allow us to further develop our exciting portfolio of differentiated products as we embark on our next phase of growth.”
Peter Dines, COO of Mercia Asset Management, said: “As Mercia’s representative on the Locate Bio board, this latest investment is testament to the significant potential market value and global reach of the products Locate Bio’s is currently developing.
“This investment, alongside our continuing active approach to supporting the business and its management team, is another example of how our complete connected capital can help accelerate growth, with businesses supported not only by our balance sheet but also across our managed funds and syndication partners.”
Jonathan Earl, investor at BGF, said: “Locate Bio represents a fantastic opportunity to invest in an innovative medical technology business, with multiple products in development, a large addressable market and a very experienced senior team with a proven track record in the sector.
“We look forward to helping the company reach its growth potential and supporting the management team as they move through the clinical and regulatory pathways required to take its technology to market and deliver improved patient outcomes.”
