ANN ARBOR – University of Michigan spin out Tissue Regeneration Systems, a medical device company developing bioactive implants for bone and soft tissue regeneration, has closed a $2 million Series A round of financing, which was led by Venture Investors and joined by the founders of TRS.

The company, a spin-out of the U-M and the University of Wisconsin, where TRS�?? core proprietary technologies were developed over the past decade, and from which TRS has an exclusive option to commercialize. Jim Adox, managing director at Venture Investors, is TRS�?? President and CEO.

TRS is currently developing its first generation products that address the needs of the $6 billion spine market using its bioresorbable scaffold and bioactive coatings technology platforms. TRS has demonstrated in animals the ability to produce spinal implants that grow strong bone without leaving an artificial implant in the body. These improvements are expected to result in patients being able to return to their normal function sooner and with improved long-term patient outcomes.

�??We are excited to have Venture Investors as a lead investor who shares our vision for this technology and its potential impact on patient care,�?� said Dr. Frank La Marca, TRS co-founder and Director of Spine Surgery, co-Director of Spine Research Laboratory, and Assistant Professor at the University of Michigan.

Paul Weiss, PhD, a managing director with Venture Investors, will join TRS�?? Board of Directors.

�??We think TRS presents a very compelling investment opportunity,�?� Weiss said. �??The Company has its roots in both the Universities of Wisconsin and Michigan �?? two great research institutions and strategic partners for Venture Investors. Not only is TRS an interdisciplinary company, with founders from the medical and engineering colleges, but also an inter-institutional one. TRS is leveraging the talents of both these institutions, which are fantastic resources for TRS.�?�

The TRS founders have also received funding from the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation at both the Universities, which assisted in moving the basic research towards commercialization.

Currently, permanent metallic and polymer implants are the standard in spinal fusion or disc replacement.

�??Their primary role is to mechanically fix the tissue and mechanically replace vertebrae in the spine and fuse vertebrae together,�?� said TRS co-founder Bill Murphy, PhD, and Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Pharmacology at the University of Wisconsin. �??So, they�??re hardware-based approaches.�?� Many of these implants are packed with a patient�??s own cells or materials that release a growth factor called bone morphogenetic protein, or BMP, that stimulates bone or cartilage formation in and around the implants.

In contrast, TRS�?? founders have developed implants that ultimately the body will resorb and replace with natural tissue. This approach centers on porous biodegradable polymer implants that have controlled structural and mechanical properties, as well as integrated biologically active components – such as BMP – to promote new tissue formation.

In addition to Hollister, La Marca and Murphy, the company�??s co-founders include Stephen Feinberg, DDS, PhD and Associate Professor at the University of Michigan, and Adox, managing director at Venture Investors.

Venture Investors is a venture capital firm with $200 million under management. The firm invests in seed and early-stage life science and technology companies in the Midwest, with a primary focus on opportunities that spin out of the region�??s leading research universities. Formed in 1982, Venture Investors has offices strategically located next to the country�??s third and fourth largest research institutions in Ann Arbor, Michigan and Madison, Wisconsin.

For additional information, click on VentureInvestors.Com

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