Smith+Nephew has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire CartiHeal, developer of Agili-C, a novel sports medicine technology for cartilage regeneration in the knee, for an initial cash consideration of $180 million at closing and up to a further $150 million subject to financial performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Agili-C is an off-the-shelf one-step treatment for osteochondral (bone and cartilage) lesions with a broader indication than existing treatments. It is indicated to treat a wide patient population, including those with lesions in knees with mild to moderate osteoarthritis, a previously unaddressed condition, as well as the approximately 700,000 patients that receive cartilage repair annually in the US.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Agili-C is a porous, biocompatible, and resorbable scaffold that promotes natural regeneration of the articular cartilage and restoration of its underlying subchondral bone. The U.S. FDA has granted Agili-C Breakthrough Device designation status in 2020 and Premarket Approval (PMA) in March 2022. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
CartiHeal was founded in 2009 as a university spin-out. It retains a small facility close to Tel Aviv and a sales office in New Jersey, US. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2024, and all CartiHeal employees are expected to transfer to Smith+Nephew.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The acquisition supports our strategy to invest behind our successful Sports Medicine business. Agili-C\u2019s superior clinical performance makes it highly complementary to our existing knee repair portfolio and with our proven commercial expertise in high-growth biologics, we are confident in our ability to drive further success with this compelling treatment option,\u201d said Deepak Nath, CEO of Smith+Nephew. <\/p>\n\n\n\n