Olympus, a Japan-based medical and information technology company, has invested $12m in Small Bone Innovations (SBI), a US-based orthopedic company treating the small bones and joints.
Olympus Terumo Biomaterials, which is two-thirds owned by Olympus and rest by peer Terumo, said after the investment it would exclusively distribute SBI products in Japan and China.
Tsuyoshi Kikukawa, president of Olympus, said: "Olympus recognizes the need to satisfy a universal desire amongst our aging populations to maintain an active lifestyle. Our investment in SBI will help small bone and joint treatments continue to be the fastest growing sector in the orthopedics market. It will also complement our biomaterials programs for maintaining musculoskeletal health."
According to Pacific Bridge Medical, the Japanese medical device market is the largest market in the Asia Pacific region and totals more than $25bn.
SBI raised $144m in its combined series C and D round from investment bank Goldman Sachs; Khazanah Nasional Berhad, the investment firm of the Malaysian government; the Family Office of Bahrain; and venture capital firms Malaysian Technology Development, vTrevi Health Ventures, NGN Capital, 3i Group and TGap Ventures; as well as merchant bank Viscogliosi Brothers that created the company through a series of bolt-on deals in 2005.
SBI’s series B round raised $42.2m in January 2006.