X-Bolt Orthopaedics, an innovative hip fracture fixation company based in Dublin, has completed an equity investment round of €1.8 million. The funding round was led by the AIB Seed Capital Fund, co-managed by Enterprise Equity Venture Capital. The investment syndicate also included private investors with backgrounds in medical technology and practice. The seed investment is set to advance US Federal Drug Administration approval of the X-Bolt product and fast track commercialisation of the product to the global export market.
X-Bolt Orthopaedics was established in 2007 by former orthopaedic surgeon Dr Brian Thornes to develop a an expanding bolt medical device for hip fracture fixation.
Addressing a problematic gap in the global market, the X-Bolt, which is already in use in over 100 patients in Irish and UK hospitals, improves the efficiency of hip fracture treatment and reduces the requirement for repeat surgery, the cost of which is expected to be €4 million per annum in Irelad alone.
Hip fractures typically account for 20-30% of all trauma orthopaedic bed occupancy with some 2,500 hip fractures fixed annually in Ireland. Approximately 5% of these will require a second operation owing to inadequate fixation in the hip bone, often because the fixation device fails to anchor securely in bone that is fragile and soft through osteoporosis. X-Bolt overcomes this by using an expanding bolt to achieve a secure anchorage in the femoral head.
X-Bolt Orthopaedics outsources manufacture, packaging and sterilisation to medtech companies based in the West of Ireland accounting for indirect employment of approximately 30 people, in addition to currently directly employing five in its Santry office. The company plans to increase direct employment through export sales to the UK, Europe and US over the next two years.
The latest investment brings to €3.3 million the total investment in the company in the past three years. The X-Bolt device is patented in Europe, with additional patent pending instrumentation, and expects to obtain FDA approval in the US later this year. The X-Bolt has already received CE Mark regulatory approval by British Standards Institute (BSI).
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