Vancouver medical device company Arbutus Medical has raised a $2.26 million financing round jointly led by Genome British Columbia and Vancouver-based health technology venture fund Nimbus Synergies.
This investment supports the development of Arbutus Medical’s TrakPak®, a complete single-use procedure kit for skeletal traction with everything a surgeon needs in one place, pre-sterile, ready to use at the bedside.
Arbutus Medical adapts DEWALT® power tools into sterile surgical drills for hospitals and field settings. The company has developed methods to create a sterile enclosure around a nonsterile power drill so it can be safely used in surgery. This technology means that hospitals do not need to sterilize a drill between surgeries, providing a significant cost advantage compared to conventional sterilizable drills.
The kit can save orthopaedic trauma teams upwards of 45 minutes of preparation time per procedure, helping hospitals operate more efficiently, reduce costs, improve patient experiences, and expand access to safe surgical care.
The system has been approved for human use by the FDA and Health Canada and TrakPak® is the company’s first complete procedure kit to include their novel drill technology.
“We are setting a new standard of care for skeletal traction,” says Lawrence Buchan, Chief Executive Officer at Arbutus Medical. “The current workflow for these procedures takes a very long time, frustrates staff, and slows down treatment for someone with a horrible injury.
“The TrakPak® skeletal traction procedure kit eliminates this problem and delivers a better solution for patients, providers, and the hospital’s bottom line. This financing will allow us to launch the next generation of TrakPak® in 2023 and rapidly scale up.”
Genome BC’s investment of $1.13 million was made through its Industry Innovation (I²) Fund, which provides commercialization support for companies developing innovative life science technologies. Matching funds have come from a syndicate of Canadian health tech and impact investment funds, including Nimbus Synergies, the Pan-Canadian consortium MEDTEQ+, and the ScaleGood Impact Fund.
“Genome BC’s I² Fund exists to bridge the gap between innovation and commercialization in BC,” says Dr. Tony Brooks, Chief Financial Officer and Vice President, Entrepreneurship & Commercialization at Genome BC.
“We’re excited about the potential for Arbutus Medical’s products to help hospitals operate more efficiently, reduce costs, improve patient experiences and expand access to safe surgical care.”
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