A newly formed Aliso Viejo-based company is looking to tap into expected demand for orthopedic care driven by the aging of the baby-boom generation.
Pur Biologics LLC is a joint venture formed by San Diego-based regenerative medicine company Histogen Inc. and an Orange County medical device industry executive.
Pur will use stem cells to develop biologic implants for regenerating bones, cartilage and tendons for treating musculoskeletal conditions.
“Our strategy is to use the products from these stem cells and put them into the body and trigger the body’s own stem cells to regenerate,” said Gail Naughton, Pur’s chairman and Histogen’s chief executive.
Pur’s chief executive is Ryan Fernan, an angel investor and veteran executive with OC Surgical Inc. in Ladera Ranch. He said Pur aims to differentiate itself with the use of stem cells in a marketplace where most tissue and bone regenerative products are synthetic or genetically engineered.
“All of the top players, including Medtronic, Johnson & Johnson/Synthes, NuVasive, they all have products somewhat similar to what we are hoping to develop,” Fernan said.
Genetically engineered bone grafts and regeneration products have been linked to complications such as ectopic bone growth, and even deaths in the case of Medtronic’s market-leading Infuse.
Histogen, a privately held company in the Sorrento Valley area of San Diego, decided to take part in the joint venture on Pur as a way to explore the potential for different uses for its biologics, Naughton said.
Histogen primarily concentrates on products for regenerating skin and hair.
“We knew that the components within both of the materials had key elements that would be important in bone, cartilage, tendon regeneration as well,” she said.
The joint venture “allows us to have focused finances to develop the orthopedic arena without detracting from the skin and hair regeneration,” Naughton said.
Naughton and Fernan first started talking about a potential collaboration about 2 ½ years ago.
Fernan said he’d been interested in investing in Histogen.
Pur is self-funded for now, and the company will take a year before evaluating whether to seek venture capital, according to Fernan.
Pur is still some years from commercialization—it just started its research and development last week.
“We will, depending on how those studies go, move from in-vitro to an in-vivo small animal [testing] model and proceed along that line,” Fernan said.
Pur has four employees to start, and three of Histogen’s 15 full-time workers will be working on Pur’s projects.
“As far as seeking employees in the future, we have a tremendous talent pool to pull from,” Fernan said. “Just the UC system alone generates an amazing amount of talent.”
