News

Email: info@ncbiomatrix.com

NC Biomatrix receives €2.5M European Innovation Council grant to complete pre-clinical studies and run its first-in-human trial

—February 2, 2023

A €2.5M grant from the EIC has been awarded to NC Biomatrix, an NLC/TU Eindhoven medical device company developing next-generation natural biomatrix technology. In what the EIC called a “highly competitive selection process”, NC Biomatrix was one of only 78 companies out of more than 1,000 selected, and it is one of only 12 selected companies with a woman at the helm. The company’s ability to complete preclinical research and the first-in-human trial for Vitadisc®, its main product, will largely depend on this investment. In addition to this, the EIC has also pre-committed €6.7M equity to the company’s next fundraise.

Hundreds of millions of people worldwide suffer from chronic back pain. According to the WHO, it remains one of the leading causes of disability and lost economic value. The most common cause of persistent back pain is degenerative disc disease, but its treatment remains difficult. By providing a permanent solution to people who have struggled with chronic back pain and disability for years or decades, Vitadisc® aims to revolutionize the treatment paradigm.

Vitadisc® is a natural injectable device developed for the definitive treatment of chronic back pain due to degenerative disc disease, with potentially significant advantages over existing alternatives for treating this condition.

About European Innovation Council (EIC):

The European Innovation Council (EIC) has been established under the EU Horizon Europe Programme. It provides funding for individual companies (mainly start-ups and SMEs) through grants and investments to support game changing innovations throughout the lifecycle from early– stage research; to proof of concept, technology transfer and the financing and scale up of start-ups and SMEs. The investments currently take the form of direct equity or quasi-equity investments and are managed by the EIC Fund.

NC Biomatrix closes initial equity funding

—February 14, 2022

NC Biomatrix has just closed its initial equity round of 1 mil € to finalise the required preclinical testing and to initiate the pilot clinical studies in the Netherlands and Germany. The investment round is led by DSM Venturing, the venture capital arm of Royal DSM, a global science-based company active in health, nutrition & bioscience. The round is joined by a group of angel investors. DSM’s business unit, DSM Biomedical, is a leading manufacturer of biomaterials worldwide, and has entered into a collaboration with NCBiomatrix.

Bob Guilleaume, CEO of NC Biomatrix, stated “We are very grateful for the support and trust the new investors have shown for NC Biomatrix. Together with the recent TakeOff2 loan from the Dutch NWO, we are in a position to bring the NC Biomatrix technology closer to clinical use and validation, which is the next major milestone for the company.”

DSM Biomedical and NC Biomatrix sign Memorandum of Understanding

—January 10, 2022

DSM Biomedical, the unrivalled expert in biomaterial science aiming to solve the world’s healthcare needs through sustainable science, and NC Biomatrix, a Dutch-based medical device startup, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the development of breakthrough regenerative devices for the treatment of back pain.

NC Biomatrix‘s most advanced technology is VitaDisc, a proprietary treatment of degenerative disc disease that affects the spine, and is pending expected regulatory approval. The agreement with DSM Biomedical will support a subsequent scaling up of manufacturing to market demand in the future, and will also serve as the catalyst for the development of similar technologies for other unmet clinical needs.

Bob Guilleaume, CEO of NC Biomatrix commented: “We are thrilled, of course, to begin a partnership with DSM Biomedical – a world leader in biomaterials for medical use. NC Biomatrix will greatly profit from the competence and experience of DSM in the area of biomaterial manufacturing and development, in addition to the DSM network that will help us to address the US market.”

Furthermore, DSM Biomedical and Biomatrix’s Dr. Keita Ito – Chief Science Officer of NC Biomatrix and developer of VitaDisc – having worked together in varying capacities, have a deep respect and appreciation for their shared competencies when it comes to solving medical challenges.

Frank Yohe, Director of Biomaterials – Natural Materials at DSM Biomedical, stated that: “We look forward to partnering with NC Biomatrix, contributing DSM’s biomaterials leadership and expertise towards the commercialization of VitaDisc and other regenerative devices. VitaDisc has the potential to transform the treatment of such a debilitating disease and vastly improve patient outcomes, which ultimately supports our worldwide vision of solving the world’s healthcare needs through sustainable science.”

The signing of the Memorandum of Understanding is the foundation for entering into a Supply Agreement, as well as potential Development Agreement for future NC Biomatrix products. Both teams are excited to continue their partnership, as they focus on significantly improving patient outcomes across the globe for many years to come.

For more information, please contact us at info@ncbiomatrix.com.

NC Biomatrix strengthens and expands its team

—July 23, 2021

NC Biomatrix has expanded and strengthened its management team as the company moves closer to initial pilot clinical validation for its VitaDisc product. Ms Wanda Meijst has joined the company as a clinical affairs specialist in June. Wanda has over 15 years of experience working herself as a CRO and recently has moved to support startup companies on their path to clinical validation. Wanda will work closely with our CRO, Sourcia and our CSO, Prof. Keita Ito to assure our pathway to initial clinical trials.

Ms Ileana Lindeman is joining the company in August as Chief operating Officer (COO). Ileana has an MD from Nottingham as well as an MBA from Harvard Business School. Most recently she has worked in Business development functions for startups in the orthopaedic area. Ileana will be responsible for all the day-to-day operations of the company and support the CEO in the area of strategic planning and fundraising.

In addition, Kelly Hoogesteijn-Stam who has been with the company since lastyear is now a full-time employee as Director of RA/QA working closely with the management team and our advisor ProPharma to assure timely approval of our innovative products with the regulatory authorities and compliance with all the requirements and conditions of the current regulations.

“We welcome everyone to the NC Biomatrix team and are looking forward to working together to develop the vast potential of the company and its technology!“, CEO Bob Guilleaume.

NC Biomatrix recieves MIT Haalbaarheid Grant 2021

—July 16, 2021

Yesterday NC Biomatrix was awarded an MIT Haalbaarheid Grant 2021 to support the feasibility study for a further NC Biomatrix product to address the major market of knee pain due to osteoarthritis.

Bob Guilleaume, CEO of NC Biomatrix, commented “We are very grateful for the support of MIT to initiate the development process for a further NC Biomatrix product. Knee osteoarthritis is a massive problem resulting in major societal costs and a reduction in the quality of life. Having a simple injectable curative treatment option for these patients would be a major breakthrough.”

NC Biomatrix TakeOff2 application granted by NWO

—July 12, 2021

In the recent application round, the NWO approved the TakeOff2 application submitted by NC Biomatrix. The company will receive the 250.000€ TakeOff2 loan to perform the “First in Man“ pilot clinical trial to clinically validate the company’s first product—VitaDisc—a new injectable therapy to treat spinal disc degeneration and associated back pain.

CEO Bob Guilleaume stated, “We are very grateful for the approval of our TakeOff2 application. This funding plus the equity round the company is in the process of closing will provide NC Biomatrix with the funding necessary to achieve a key milestone of initial clinical validation and creates the foundation for a larger financing round in 2022 for the multicenter international clinical trial and regulatory submissions for key markets. Our team is highly dedicated to bringing this new innovative technology to the market.”

Revealed: NC Biomatrix part of the Top 10 most ground breaking academic startups in NL

—November 25, 2020

The ten winners of the prestigious Academic Startup Competition 2020 have been named as Bimini Biotech, DeNoize, Digi.Bio, IamFluidics, Kaminari Medical, Lusoco, NC Biomatrix, Taylor, uCrowds and VanBoven. The 10 winning startups can use the title ‘Best Academic Startup of 2020’ for the coming year.

The winning startups were chosen by an expert jury after a thrilling final in which all 20 finalists were asked to pitch. The ten winners were chosen on the basis of their value proposition, the innovative nature of their technology, the potential of their business and earnings model, and their team composition.

In addition to the title of ‘Best Academic Startup of 2020’ the startups will be introduced to a network of entrepreneurs, investors and other companies, and will have access a coaching programme with dedicated mentors.

Academic Startup Competition:

The Academic Startup Competition is an initiative of the Association of Universities in the Netherlands (VSNU), the Dutch Federation of University Medical Centres, (NFU), Netherlands Academy of Technology and Innovation (AcTI) and Techleap.nl, and is supported by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy. The aim of the competition is to put valorisation and academic spinoffs in the spotlight.

“I am looking forward to following how these entrepreneurs help make the world a little better,” said deputy economic affairs minister Mona Keijzer. “As innovative startups, they help ensure the Netherlands is a world beater when it comes to innovation and entrepreneurship, and that we can continue to develop smart solutions, create jobs and strengthen our economy. They embody the slogan ‘for every global challenge, there is a Dutch solution.’”

Pieter Duisenberg, chairman VSNU: “These fledgling companies show that the Netherlands’ academic startups have a pioneering role in creating ground-breaking innovations. This underscores the importance of our key aim: to be the number 1 ecosystem for academic startups in Europe.”

Constantijn van Oranje, Teachleap.nl envoy: “These winners and this competition show that the Dutch academic startup ecosystem is bursting with energy and inventiveness. The time is now ripe to further professionalise the transfer of expertise in the Netherlands. Knowledge is not enough in itself. In the end it is the market that decides if a company is successful, not the technology, and this is why you need entrepreneurship as well.”

Margrethe Jonkman, chairwoman Netherlands Academy of Technology and Innovation (AcTI): “Economic activity and employment provide a solid starting position while innovative startups offer us the opportunity to advance into new areas. In congratulating these 10 winners, we are showing that we are both proud of them and of the ecosystem in which they developed. At the same time, this ecosystem deserves our continual attention, because new challenges demand new solutions.”

NC Biomatrix bv selected as one of 20 finalists in the Techleap Program

—October 8, 2020

NC Biomatrix has been selected as one of 20 finalists in the Academic Startup competition for 2020. We are honored by this selection and for the opportunities the Techleap network provides. See techleap.nl for more information about this topic!

NLC closes Momentum, provides funding support for NC Biomatrix

—March 12, 2020

NLC Venture Builder has closed Momentum—a € 2.2 mln fund for private investments—within a month. This fund will be invested in 11 innovative healthtech ventures from NLC’s portfolio. With this new way of funding, investors can easily spread their money and hence their risk, and at the same time build up a broad portfolio of startups.

Considering the short timeframe in which the € 2.2 mln fund was closed, Momentum’s approach seems to be a successful new way of attracting financing for startups. This form of financing offers a solution for the lack of capital funding that start-ups often encounter in the ‘pre-seed’ and ‘seed’ phase of financing. Although the total amount of investment in healthcare is increasing, there appears to be a shift towards investing in ventures that are well past the ‘pre-seed’ and ‘seed’ stages. This results in a structural shortage in capital for early-stage startups.

Bob Guilleaume, CEO of NC Biomatrix B.V.—one of the 11 portfolio companies—comments “We are very grateful for the funding support via Momentum for our seed phase activities. As mentioned above, this is an extremely important solution to the massive funding gap in early and seed phases of innovative medical startups and provides up with the chance to prove and develop our injectable technology for patients suffering from back pain due to spinal disc degeneration.”

Loan Agreement with the Brabant Startup Fund

—February 25, 2020

NC Biomatrix b.v. located in Eindhoven, Netherlands signed a significant loan agreement with the Brabant Startup Fund BV located in Tilburg, Netherlands to fund key preclinical tasks for the company’s unique biomatrix technology.

NC Biomatrix, established by NLC and the TU/e develops resorbable acellular injectable biomatrices to address millions of patients suffering from back pain due to disc degeneration. This patent-pending technology was developed by Prof. Keita Ito at the TU/e and the company continues to work closely with the research team at TU/e. A further application for this unique biomatrix is the treatment of knee pain due to osteoarthritis.

The Brabant Startup Fund (BSF) is a regional fund established by the province of Northern-Brabant designed to support innovative technologies in the top segments of Northern-Brabant. BSF focuses on early-stage proof-of-concept and seed funding to allow these innovative Startups to develop their technologies and products and to grow in the region contributing to already strong commercial development in Brabant.

Robert Guilleaume, CEO of NC Biomatrix, states: “We are very grateful for the support from the BSF in this early stage of our company. This type of support is crucial for any Startup to develop its business potential. We are committed to the Brabant region through the close cooperation with the TU/e – a crucial part in the success of the company-, our new location in Eindhoven and collaboration with parties in the Brainport network, and we look forward to a very positive collaboration with BSF“

Gerard Spanbroek, Managing Fund Director of BSF, comments: “NC Biomatrix is a great opportunity contributing economically and socially to the province of Northern-Brabant and even outside the region. Their strong collaboration with TUE and parties in the Brainport region enhances NC Biomatrix the possibility in scaling their business. We are very pleased with NC Biomatrix in our portfolio and wish them much success in building their business in the province.”

Bart Nelissen and Frank van de Ven of TU/e Innovation Lab, who assisted NC Biomatrix in writing the funding proposal, comment: “For spin-offs that originate from Eindhoven University of Technology, the Brabant Startup Fund is typically one of the first funding instruments that we look at. It has been a great pleasure to support NC Biomatrix in making a successful application that will allow the company to build its business and realise the potential that we see in their technology.”

Roland Zegger, Venture Partner of NLC comments:

“We are very happy with the trust and commitment BSF is showing in NC Biomatrix with their decision to allocate a loan.

The loan enables NC Biomatrix to perform important and critical next steps in developing a solution for patients suffering from lower back pain.”

NC Biomatrix presents at the EIT investor lounge in Delft

—September 1, 2019

NC Biomatrix presents at the EIT investor lounge in Delft. After becoming a member of the EIT Health network, NC Biomatrix was selected as one of 3 companies to present to a select group of European investors at the EIT investor lounge in Delft. CEO Bob Guilleaume commented “We really appreciate the support of the EIT team and network. It is an honour for us to be selected as one of three young companies to present at this event.”

NC Biomatrix receives Boost4Health voucher

—July 1, 2019

NC Biomatrix receives Boost4Health voucher to support their biomechanical testing of the innovative injectable biomatrix technology to treat patients with back pain due to disc degeneration. NC Biomatrix CSO Prof. Keita Ito states “We appreciate the support by the Brabant region for our collaboration with the Biomechanical Testing Institute at the University of Ulm, Germany. With Prof. Wilke from Ulm, NC Biomatrix has partnered with a leading testing institute worldwide to validate our innovative injectable biomatrix in a state-of-the-art testing model.”

NC Biomatrix awarded MIT Feasability Grant

—June 1, 2019

NC Biomatrix awarded MIT Feasibility Grant. NC Biomatrix was awarded an MIT Feasibility grant to initiate validation of their injectable biomatrix technology to treat patients with back pain due to disc degeneration. NC Biomatrix CEO Bob Guilleaume commented “We are very grateful for the support by the MIT program. This grant will allow us to begin the validation of commercial manufacturing of our technology, taking the first steps on the path to commercialising this fascinating technology”