Equinext receives local funding to begin testing device to treat equine leg injuries

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Dec. 5, 2011)—UK spinoff company Equinext is taking the first step to test its device to treat equine tendon and ligament injuries using funds raised entirely from local Kentucky investors. Equinext recently closed an $850,000 Series A investment round and started the initial work on their clinical trial with strategic partner Hagyard Equine Medical Institute.

“We have seen an amazing show of support from the Bluegrass equine industry. Not only are they behind our product, but many are now investors in our company,” said Equinext CEO Eric Hauck. “I imagine it’s not every day that the equine community is investing in a biotech company.”

The Equinext technology provides almost immediate benefits to the horse. These types of injuries to the tendons and ligaments can affect up to 30 percent of competitive horses, with similar rates of occurrence in working horses (horses used for driving, guiding, packing, search and rescue, and police work). The technology will also be used to treat Wobbler’s Syndrome, which causes significant horse loss for the racing industry.  

The clinical trial will run over the next 12 months. Tom Hedman, who developed the technology and who has a joint appointment in neurosurgery and biomedical engineering at UK, and Haygard Equine Medical Institute veterinarians Kim Sprayberry and Duncan Peters will conduct the trial.

Equinext is planning on using Coldstream Laboratories Inc. to manufacture the chemically-made, injectable reagent device. Equinext, parent company Orthopeutics-Intralink Spine, and Coldstream Laboratories Inc. are located at UK’s Coldstream Research Campus.

“This is a real win-win for our company, for Lexington and for the equine industry,” said Hauck. “We created a new company because we were recruited to a perfect market for our technology that will benefit the Bluegrass equine community.”

Local investors in Equinext include UK through Kentucky Technology Inc., the Bluegrass Angels, two state funds, several equine veterinarians and horse farm owners, and others involved in Central Kentucky’s  equine industry. Equinext is a spinoff of Orthopeutics-Intralink Spine recruited to Lexington from Austin, Texas last year.

Also read: Equinext to develop a medical device for equine lower leg injuries

About UKCED
The University of Kentucky Office for Commercialization & Economic Development accelerates the Kentucky economy by commercializing UK research, facilitating university-industry collaboration, and assisting UK innovators, local entrepreneurs and Kentucky small business in creating jobs. UKCED manages UK’s intellectual property assets, licenses technology, and includes the ASTeCC campus incubator, Coldstream Research Campus, Kentucky Small Business Development Center, Kentucky Technology Inc., Lexington ICC, Technology Transfer, and the Von Allmen Center for Entrepreneurship.