Corebone

Market position

CoreBone competes in the dental and orthopedic bone graft market against human-, bovine- and porcine-derived and synthetic grafts, positioning its product against the bovine market leader Bio-Oss. Its investor describes the cartilage repair opportunity as a roughly $5 billion global market; the ExitValley campaign describes the combined dental and orthopedic graft market as about $4 billion annually.

The company states it is the only company with a proprietary coral-growing platform, providing a controlled, scalable and sustainable source of medical-grade coral that avoids the variability, supply constraints and sustainability issues of wild-harvested coral, and the biological risks and loss of bioactivity associated with animal- and human-derived grafts.

Technology

Corals of selected species are grown in a closed, monitored aquarium system using proprietary technology, laboratory-made seawater enriched with bioactive nutrients, and CoreBone's exclusive coral propagation strains. Patented technology incorporates bioactive minerals such as silicium into the coral skeleton during growth to promote bone formation around the implanted material. The company reports osteoprogenitor cell layers attached to the bioactive coral mineral surface 48 hours after grafting in vivo, compressive strength five times that of human cancellous bone and synthetic grafts, a 3D porous structure with capillary ingrowth and woven bone deposition, and full bone and cartilage regeneration at six months in preclinical animal models. Patents are registered in the United States, Europe and Israel, and CoreTlage is backed by PCT patents covering enhanced stem cell migration technology.

Go-to-market

Sales run through international distributors and local partners, supported by clinical case documentation, multicenter clinical study data, and dental practitioner testimonials; the company has pursued distributor meetings at international dental trade fairs and cooperation agreements with Chinese medical companies and hospitals, plus a pilot in the orthopedic-oncology department at Ichilov Medical Center.

Dental implantologists, periodontists and oral surgeons performing bone grafting and implant procedures, plus orthopedic surgeons treating cartilage and subchondral bone defects.

Geography

Headquartered in Israel with an address at 17 Tchelet St., Misgav, and coral cultivation at Moshav Ein Yahav in southern Israel; the 2021 coverage describes the company as Tel Aviv-based. It maintains a location at the Guangzhou International Bio Island in China and a Chinese subsidiary. Products were first marketed in Israel, France, Poland and Romania, with registration underway in Taiwan and distribution interest reported from Spain, Italy, Australia, India, Argentina, Chile, China and Japan.

History

The company was founded in 2011 and is a portfolio company of the Israeli incubator The Trendlines Group, with support from the Israel Innovation Authority. Its coral bone grafts have been commercially available in selected markets since 2017, initially in Israel, France, Poland and Romania for clinical feedback and follow-up. A crowdfunding round was run on the ExitValley platform, followed by a further ExitValley convertible campaign presented as a Round A that reached 271% of its funding target. In 2021 the company raised $3.7 million, including an investment into its Chinese subsidiary, to expand commercially with a primary focus on China. The company has since developed and patented CoreTlage and, per its investor The Trendlines Group, is raising capital to begin a first-in-human cartilage study.

Risks & controversies

The CoreTlage cartilage platform has only preclinical evidence and has not yet completed a first-in-human study, and the company states it is still raising capital to initiate that study and pursue regulatory approvals. Commercial expansion depends on distributor agreements and market-by-market registrations, including a pending registration in Taiwan and a China-focused strategy.