CartiHeal team (company pic)
Israeli medical device company CartiHeal is getting bought out by the British medical equipment company Smith & Nephew (S&N) in a deal that could be worth as much as $330 million. $180 million will be paid now and up to another $150 million could be paid out if certain requirements are met.
In 2022, CartiHeal was set to be sold to Bioventus, an American orthologics company, for as much as $500 million. But that deal fell through, in part, because of the global financial crunch at that time.
Founded by its CEO Nir Altschuler,CartiHeal is a privately-held Israeli medical device company that develops proprietary implants for the treatment of cartilage and osteochondral defects in traumatic and osteoarthritic joints. The Agili-C™ implant is indicated for the treatment of an International Cartilage Repair Society (ICRS) grade III or above knee-joint surface lesion(s).
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The Mayo Clinic explains that Osteochondritis dissecans (os-tee-o-kon-DRY-tis DIS-uh-kanz) is a joint condition in which bone underneath the cartilage of a joint dies due to lack of blood flow. This bone and cartilage can then break loose, causing pain and possibly hindering joint motion.
Osteochondritis dissecans occurs most often in children and adolescents. It can cause symptoms either after an injury to a joint or after several months of activity, especially high-impact activity such as jumping and running, that affects the joint. The condition occurs most commonly in the knee, but also occurs in elbows, ankles and other joints.
CartiHeal offers a cell-free, off-the-shelf implant, CE marked for use in cartilage and osteochondral defects. Agili-C has been implanted in over 400 patients with cartilage lesions in the knee, ankle and great toe in a series of trials conducted in leading centers in Europe and Israel. In these trials, the implant was used to treat a broad spectrum of cartilage lesions, from single focal lesions to multiple and large defects in patients suffering from osteoarthritis.
“The CartiHeal implant, defined by the FDA as a breakthrough technology, is extracted from the calcium of corals and is surgically implanted by orthopedic surgeons into the infected area,” said Nir Altschule.. “The company received FDA approval in March 2022, after completing a clinical trial that lasted several years and included hundreds of patients in 26 centers in the U.S., Europe, and Israel. The trial showed the distinct advantages of the implant over existing procedures, including the ability to regrow cartilage.”
