Lenoss Medical just hit a major milestone thanks to $4 million raised in series A funding. In March, the Bristol-based life sciences company marked the completion of its 150th OsteoPearl spinal implant procedure, with more than half of those surgeries taking place within the last six months.
More physicians now than ever are using the OsteoPearl system in their practices, according to John Williams, executive director of sales strategy and operations. And all of that was accelerated by funding that took almost a year to secure.
“For my first year at Lenoss, all I did was work on investor relations,” Williams said. “We had amazing angel investors in Rhode Island and Arizona that helped this series of funding. But it’s hard to raise money these days.”
The efforts were worth it, however. Lenoss ended up oversubscribing in its series A funding, meaning it raised more than it sought.
The company was able to use the funds to build a team to promote its OsteoPearl system, allowing founder, Chairman, CEO and President Dom Messerli to hire five other people, creating a team of six.
Two of those six Lenoss employees have been going out into the field to meet with surgeons who specialize in spinal surgery to spread the word about the benefits of the OsteoPearl implant system.
“We’re starting to be able to help surgeons realize there are other options if they don’t know about OsteoPearl yet,” Williams said. “We’re not trying to dominate the industry; we just want to show doctors and patients that there is another way.”
The funds were also used to hire a marketing firm in the Northeast, which is working with Lenoss on its branding for OsteoPearl.
So, what is OsteoPearl?
Williams described the spinal implant as “a string of pearls made from cadaver bones.” It’s used to treat spinal fractures caused by osteoporosis or trauma from a fall or injury. Essentially, the body recognizes the implant as bone and rebuilds the vertebrae.
“It’s amazing,” Williams said. “Surgeons that do spinal surgery have had no other option but to use epoxy cement. This is a biological alternative. Adding more bone where more bone is needed makes a huge difference. The implant that is added is also conducive for new bone formation over time.”
Spinal fractures are extremely painful without getting surgery to fix them, according to Williams and Messerli. It leaves people bedridden, and even then they’re still in pain.
There are nearly a million spinal fractures per year in the United States, Messerli said. But only a quarter are being treated surgically, he added. Offering patients another option in treating these spinal fractures is a welcomed alternative for doctors and patients alike.
“Surgeons always tell me at conventions, ‘Wow, I can’t believe no one has thought of this before. Where has this been for the last 20-30 years?’ ” Williams said. “The early results [of OsteoPearl surgeries] are very compelling.”
Messerli said the company is already seeing growth following its successful series A funding round. Word about OsteoPearl is spreading among patients and surgeons.
“Two weeks ago, we received our first unsolicited patient request. They found us,” Messerli said. “This patient had two surgeries where epoxy was used to fix a spinal fracture. She didn’t want to go through a third procedure that hadn’t worked previously. She wanted an OsteoPearl implant this time instead. A few days later, she had the surgery, and it went really, really well.”
Messerli said the future of Lenoss Medical involves continuing to grow its customer base so it can treat more patients. He plans to eventually increase the six-person team, with a focus on hiring more marketing and commercialization specialists. Lastly, he’d like to see an increased inventory and volume when it comes to manufacturing the OsteoPearl implant.
However, the future of life sciences funding and innovation is at risk amid a federal funding grant freeze imposed by the Trump administration. Life sciences companies often secure grants from government agencies such as the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation.
According to the Science & Community Impacts Mapping Project, Rhode Island has endured $108 million in economic losses and the loss of 466 jobs due to the Trump administration’s cuts to funding from the National Institutes of Health. Meanwhile, the National Science Foundation is reviewing research projects to ensure compliance with presidential directives.
Messerli said that so far, Lenoss has been able to weather the storm.
“We’re very fortunate that we had local grants through state and local investors, as well as a grant from [R.I. Commerce Corp.] that we’ve already received for research with Brown University,” Messerli said.
Williams said the grant freeze must be sorted for the industry to continue research and advancements.
“Life sciences companies will always be pursuing grants, that’s what we do,” Williams said. “Could grants be completely wiped off the spreadsheet entirely? Possibly. One thing’s for sure: If it does, future innovation in the life sciences will be impacted.”
