Avitus Orthopaedics Raises $1 Million to Assist With Launch of Avitus Harvester

Avitus Orthopaedics Inc. has raised more than $1 million in capital to help launch its bone harvesting device.

Avitus was awarded a Small Business Innovation Research Phase II award from the National Science Foundation for $750,000.

“We’re thrilled that this award will enable us to grow the team as well as expand the company’s product portfolio,” said Maxim Budyansky, chief technology officer of Avitus.

Additionally, Avitus raised $300,000 toward its Series A round from Connecticut Innovations and another private investor. To date, Connecticut Innovations has invested $500,000 in the company to support growth activities, including testing, manufacturing and regulatory filings.

“We have seen exciting progress with our fundraising efforts and product development goals,” said Neil Shah, CEO of Avitus. “We are looking to raise an additional $350,000 from new investment partners to close the Series A round. The funds will allow us to submit for 510(k) clearance of the Avitus Harvester and complete a pilot launch of the product.”

Avitus is currently developing a minimally-invasive bone graft harvesting device that provides surgeons with an intuitive, safe and efficient way to harvest bone grafts. The device, called the Avitus Harvester, is a disposable manual surgical instrument that cuts and collects bone from the patient with a streamlined process.

Avitus was founded in 2011 by biomedical engineers in the Johns Hopkins University Center for Bioengineering Innovation and Design and spinal surgeons from the Johns Hopkins Medical Institute. In 2013, the company relocated its headquarters to the University of Connecticut Technology Incubation Program in Farmington, Conn. The company currently is developing a surgical device that will enable surgeons to use gold standard autologous bone graft material. Current bone graft solutions are suboptimal in terms of efficacy, safety and cost.