SHS participates as lead investor in Blue Ocean Spine

Tübingen/ Tutt­lin­gen — SHS Gesell­schaft für Betei­li­gungs­ma­nage­ment mbH from Tübin­gen is parti­ci­pa­ting as lead inves­tor in the Tutt­­lin­­gen-based specia­list for func­tional spinal implants Blue Ocean Spine GmbH.

For SHS and the foun­der of Blue Ocean Spine, Gunt­mar Eisen, this is alre­ady the second colla­bo­ra­tion — the joint company EIT Emer­ging Implant Tech­no­lo­gies GmbH was sold to an inter­na­tio­nal medi­cal tech­no­logy group in 2018. Unlike tradi­tio­nal cage implants for inter­ver­te­bral spaces, Blue Ocean Spine’s implants will allow surge­ons to elimi­nate the need for addi­tio­nal screw fixa­tion. In addi­tion, they will no longer need to stock a multi­tude of implant vari­ants in diffe­rent sizes and dimen­si­ons. This should make proce­du­res more effi­ci­ent for surge­ons and safer for patients.

Back pain is proba­bly more preva­lent in Western socie­ties than any other pain. While most back complaints are nowa­days trea­ted conser­va­tively, i.e. with drugs and physio­the­rapy, severe dege­ne­ra­tive dise­a­ses, which are usually accom­pa­nied by insta­bi­lity of the spine, can only be trea­ted with surgery.

This usually invol­ves the use of a fusion implant to stabi­lize the spine. The disc place­hol­der, called a cage, is implan­ted and fixed between the verte­brae. In most cases, addi­tio­nal stabi­liza­tion is achie­ved with screws and rod systems.

Inno­va­tive, custo­mizable spinal implant

Expe­ri­en­ced engi­neer Gunt­mar Eisen is now deve­lo­ping a port­fo­lio of inno­va­tive, func­tional and adap­ta­ble cage systems with his Tutt­­lin­­gen-based company Blue Ocean Spine — some of these implants should be able to do comple­tely without addi­tio­nal screw fixation.

“With Blue Ocean Spine’s systems, we’re deal­ing with next-gene­ra­­tion cage implants,” said Patrick Frohn­hei­ser, invest­ment mana­ger at SHS. “Inter­ven­ti­ons will thus be faster and safer. We are convin­ced that these systems will become popu­lar and want to support Blue Ocean Spine with equity and our large network.”

Blue Ocean Spine’s various implants are manu­fac­tu­red using the 3D prin­ting process. This can result in a signi­fi­cant cost advan­tage compared to compe­ti­tive systems. So-called expan­da­ble cages can be adjus­ted inde­pendently in height, width and lordo­sis angle. Previously, a clinic had to stock a variety of rigid cage implants in diffe­rent designs for diffe­rent pati­ents. This is time-consum­ing and expen­sive. The new gene­ra­tion of Blue Ocean Spine Cages will signi­fi­cantly reduce these costs in the future. Other models in the Blue Ocean Spine port­fo­lio have inte­gra­ted anchors that can be secu­rely fixed between the patient’s verte­brae by the surgeon in just a few steps, support­ing mini­mally inva­sive access tech­ni­ques. In some cases, addi­tio­nal screw fittings become obsolete.

Conti­nua­tion of a successful partnership

“We are plea­sed to have SHS as an expe­ri­en­ced indus­try inves­tor back on board as a part­ner and can now work at full speed on the deve­lo­p­ment and produc­tion of our inno­va­tive cage implants,” says company foun­der Gunt­mar Eisen, who has been active in spine surgery for more than 25 years and has alre­ady foun­ded and sold a number of inno­va­tive compa­nies. “If all goes accor­ding to plan, we will apply for FDA appr­oval in the U.S. as early as 2022, which is the largest market for spinal implants.”

“Gunt­mar Eisen is one of the most successful German entre­pre­neurs in medi­cal tech­no­logy. We are very plea­sed to conti­nue our trustful coope­ra­tion. Blue Ocean Spine is an excel­lent addi­tion with a lot of poten­tial for our fifth fund gene­ra­tion,” says Dr. Bern­hard Schirm­ers, Mana­ging Part­ner of SHS.

About SHS Gesell­schaft für Betei­li­gungs­ma­nage­ment mbH

Tübin­­gen-based SHS Gesell­schaft für Betei­li­gungs­ma­nage­ment invests in medi­cal tech­no­logy and life science compa­nies with a focus on expan­sion finan­cing, share­hol­der chan­ges and succes­sion situa­tions. In doing so, SHS enters into both mino­rity and majo­rity share­hol­dings. As an expe­ri­en­ced indus­try inves­tor, the company, which was foun­ded in 1993, supports the growth of its port­fo­lio compa­nies through a network of colla­bo­ra­ti­ons, for exam­ple in the intro­duc­tion of new products, regu­la­tory issues or entry into addi­tio­nal markets. The German and inter­na­tio­nal inves­tors in SHS funds include profes­sio­nal pension funds, pension funds, stra­te­gic inves­tors, funds of funds, family offices, entre­pre­neurs and the SHS manage­ment team. The equity invest­ment of the AIFM-regis­­te­red company is up to € 30 million, volu­mes excee­ding this can be imple­men­ted with a network of co-inves­­tors. Curr­ently, SHS is inves­t­ing from its fifth fund. The fund has recei­ved capi­tal commit­ments of over 130 million euros.

Welcome

About Blue Ocean Spine GmbH

Blue Ocean Spine GmbH, based in Tutt­lin­gen, Germany, deve­lops and markets inno­va­tive, func­tional spinal implants to support mini­mally inva­sive fusion surgery in spine surgery. The company uses addi­tive manu­fac­tu­ring proces­ses to combine better func­tion­a­lity and unique product features with cost effi­ci­ency. Expan­da­ble fusion cage designs allow for better adapt­a­tion to indi­vi­dual pati­ent anatomy and precise resto­ra­tion of segmen­tal height and realignment of spinal curvat­ure. This signi­fi­cantly redu­ces the stock in clinics. Inte­gra­ted, exten­da­ble anchors in ALIF and late­ral fusion scages support mini­mally inva­sive surgi­cal approa­ches to the spine and allow secure fixa­tion in the inter­ver­te­bral space without addi­tio­nal screw fixation.
www.blueoceanspine.com for more information.