Companion Spine Raises $55M in Series A

Diagnostic and interventional spine surgery company Companion Spine has raised $55 million to develop and commercialize its minimally invasive and therapeutic solutions for degenerative disc disease (DDD) and lumbar spine stenosis (LSS). The Series A round was led by co-founder and shareholder Viscogliosi Brothers.
 
Companion Spine’s solutions stem in part from regulatory and clinical property acquisition from Medtronic in 2020. This includes six patent families of over 140 patents, as well as instruments and implant sets.
 
Companion Spine also aims to finalize development of diagnostic tools for very early diagnostics for root causes, biomechanical factors, and biologic factors for inducing back pain. The company’s offer for spine pain combines early spine pathologies diagnosis with non-invasive, reversible medical tools and interventional surgery.
 
The company expects to commercialize the CE-marked DIAM implant to treat DDD in the U.S. in 2023. DIAM earned U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) breakthrough status in 2021. Companion Spine also aims to release the APERIUS intervertebral implant for LSS in 2023.
 
“We are witnessing a paradigm shift in the management of spine pathologies, as many other healthcare sectors have experienced with the development of new technical and scientific innovations. Companion Spine is positioned to become a major actor of this change due to its unique focus and its comprehensive solutions which are adapted to the needs of patients and back pain specialists throughout their entire journey, aiming at precisely diagnosing and treating back pain earlier, for good, precisely, and efficiently. Patients and health authorities are now in favor of these quicker, lighter, less risky and highly effective interventional surgical techniques and their ability to compete with, and even surpass, the standard of irreversible treatment imposed by spinal fusion,” Erick Cloix, CEO and co-founder of Companion Spine told the press. “I am thrilled by the completion of this very important financing in our sector of activity, which testifies not only to the support and confidence of our co-founder and main shareholder, Viscogliosi Brothers, but also to the medical relevance of the technologies for the preservation and protection of functional mobility of the spinal segment, and to the interest of the business model developed by Companion Spine, with the participation of a leading spine medical devices manufacturer from which a large part of the patents for some of our innovations originate. With this fundraising, which provides us with a solid cash flow and long-term financial visibility, Companion Spine will be able to focus entirely on the development and commercialization of its first group of medical, diagnostic, and implantable devices, specifically DIAM and APERIUS, our spinal implants for the treatment of low back pain, as well as DISC ANALYZER, a new and unique technology for the precise diagnosis and monitoring of back pain. United-States commercialization of these breakthrough innovations is expected during 2023 and 2024.”
 
“I am excited to embrace this opportunity to serve the American patients and the Spine Pain Management community with technologies such as DIAM that have a uniquely long and strong successful clinical history outside the United States since 2003 as well as APERIUS, said Anthony G. Viscogliosi, principal at Viscogliosi Brothers, co-founder and Executive Chairman of Companion Spine. “The breakthrough status awarded to the DIAM technology by the FDA in October of last year recognizes the unique characteristics of this technology to address currently unmet patient care needs here in the USA. I am delighted to work with such a talented and experienced management team that has gathered around the vision and mission of Companion Spine. I believe this group is uniquely experienced to achieve great success within the field of diagnostics and interventional spine pain treatment, as well as motion preservation and function. The trust and support from one of the leading global spine medical device company in the participation in current and future developments for Companion Spine alongside Viscogliosi Brothers provide us with the confidence that Companion Spine’s vision and mission are rightfully aimed at what spine pain specialists and patients deserve and have long awaited for.”