Cork-headquartered healthcare technology business SurgaColl Technologies has secured €2 million of fresh investment as it looks to commercialise its bone-graft technology.

The company, which is a spin-out from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, has seen funding contributions from AIB Seed Capital Fund, Harmac Medical Products, Enterprise Ireland and private investors in France, the UK and Singapore.

SurgaColl Technologies was established in 2010 to commercialise a portfolio of implantable orthopaedic products developed by the Tissue Engineering Research Group at RCSI.

Its new technology, HydroxyCol, has been formulated to induce growth in bones to help with grafts. The business has now licensed new techniques from RCSI for the regeneration of human tissue.

Dan Philpott, chief executive of SurgaColl, comments, ‘The premise behind this technology is that we are harnessing nature to induce an effect in the body.

‘The funding will enable the company to launch its first product, HydroxyCol, an osteoinductive bone graft substitute, in the global orthopaedics market and to complete pre-clinical trials of a very promising cartilage regeneration product, ChondroColl.’

John O’ Dea, Enterprise Ireland manager for High Potential Start Ups – Industrial, adds, ‘For the past six years, Enterprise Ireland has been supporting the development of this highly innovative technology in RCSI. We are delighted that this has culminated in SurgaColl, which is a very promising academic spin-out.

‘The potential prize for the company is enormous and holds out the potential for significantly improved solutions for a range of treatments in a multi-billion market.’