By: Vanessa Lu
Source: thestar.com
Donning surgical scrubs on Monday, Dec. 16, Armen Bakirtzian stood in an operating room at Mount Sinai Hospital and held his breath.
Orthopedic surgeon Allan Gross was handling a device, which Bakirtzian initially designed as his final-year university design project.
After five years of work, and various iterations, it would finally be used for the first time in a patient — to help guide the placement of an artificial hip.
Waterloo, Ontario, September 30, 2013 – Avenir Medical Inc., an innovator in developing intelligent instruments to improve joint replacement surgery, announced today that it has closed $3.3M of Series A financing. The round was led by MaRS Investment Accelerator Fund, Toronto, and included a syndicate of Angel Groups in Waterloo, Toronto, and Boston.
Avenir develops intelligent instruments to assist orthopedic surgeons in the operating room. The Company’s proprietary devices integrate microelectronics and miniature optical sensors to calculate and display real time measurements of implant position and alignment, enabling surgeons to more accurately perform joint replacements. The Company’s flagship product is for guiding hip replacement, and the same advanced technology will be applied to knee replacement and other surgical procedures.
“We are excited to attract a broad base of investors ranging from MaRS Investment Accelerator Fund to Angel Groups representing prominent Canadian and US entrepreneurs and surgeons ”, said CEO Armen Bakirtzian. “This funding will accelerate our clinical and commercialization plans in North America and Europe where the potential market is over 2 million hip and knee replacements a year.”
“In joint replacement, most surgeons use their own impromptu techniques to position and align implants,” says Dr. Allan Gross, Orthopaedic Surgeon at Mt. Sinai Hospital, Toronto, and Chairman of Avenir Medical’s Surgical Advisory Board. “However, studies show that post-operatively, up to 10% of patients have complications and as many as half of these require expensive revision surgery. Avenir’s new device gives surgeons a simple, reliable, and easy to use tool for implant positioning and alignment that can reduce the outliers and ultimately benefit patients.”
“Avenir really represents the type of company that fits our investment thesis. They have a great product, based on unique, differentiated technology, and have a huge market potential” said Dan Mathers, Investment Director, IAF. “Avenir is an example of the type of high quality companies we are seeing in the Kitchener-Waterloo region, and we will continue to ensure that we focus efforts on being a key investor in the region.”
About Avenir Medical
Avenir is an early stage orthopedic medical device company committed to improving patient outcomes and hospital economics in joint replacement surgery. Avenir is the creator of PelvAssist™, a miniaturized intelligent instrument that enhances surgeon accuracy, increases hospital economic efficiencies, and improves patient outcomes. Avenir’s R & D team is led by the co-founder and former director of surgical navigation at Medtronic, Inc., and driven by a team of renowned orthopedic surgeons: Dr. Allan Gross and Dr. David Backstein from Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, Dr. Wayne Paprosky from Rush Hospital in Chicago, and Dr. Javad Parvizi from the Rothman Institute in Philadelphia.
About MaRS Investment Accelerator Fund
The MaRS Investment Accelerator Fund manages on behalf of the Province of Ontario, the Investment Accelerator Fund (IAF) (@MaRSIAF) which provides seed funding to qualified emerging companies in Ontario. A critical component of the Ontario Network of Entrepreneurs (ONE), the IAF supports the launch and development of innovative companies in Ontario’s priority sectors of advanced materials and manufacturing, information technology, cleantech and life sciences. To learn more, visit www.iaf.marsdd.com
For further information contact:
Armen Bakirtzian, CEO Avenir Medical
a.bakirtzian@avenirmedical.com
647.234.8160
