Originally Published MX September/October
2002
COVER STORY
A Company with Backbone
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In today's medtech marketplace, entrepreneurs who lack
commitment need not apply—at least not if they expect to succeed.
"These are tricky times," says James E. Nicholson, founder and chairman of Cortek Inc. (Dedham, MA). "It is extremely difficult these days to take a raw idea and turn it into a viable company.
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The CorLok allograft implant
system for lumbar fusion by Cortek Inc. (Dedham, MA)
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"Early-stage investors are mostly interested in technologies
that they think have a high chance of making it, so that they can make a tremendous
return on their money. And they find it difficult to invest in a company that
has only raised a little bit of money and hasn't really proven anything with
that round of money," says Nicholson.
Nicholson knows a little something about the expectations of
investors. In September 2001, Cortek completed a fourth round of private financing
for $10 million. Galen Partners (New York City) and The Federated Kaufman Group
(New York City) were the largest participants in the round, which was also supported
by previous investors.
The round was to support nationwide sales expansion for the
company's CorLok allograft implant system, the launch of several other
allograft products, and clinical trials associated with the company's PolyLok
lumbar interbody fusion device.
According to Nicholson, the CorLok product has shown a very
high success rate in lumbar fusion. "We're getting about a 93% success
rate for fusing two adjacent vertebrae together in a time frame of 6 to 12 months."
Nicholson says that investors today expect their funding to result in significant progress. "When a company gets to the point where it has reportable data that show it has something worthwhile—and when the product is heavily patent-protected and protected by other means, such as using unique materials from a source that the company can control—then a company can make some nice headway with its product."
Copyright ©2002 MX
