Flex Biomedical Inc., a privately held company developing treatments for orthopedic diseases, said it has raised $985,000 in Wisconsin, including a $150,000 loan from the state's Technology Venture Fund, and will move its operations to Madison from Boston.
Three of the state's early-stage investment groups - Wisconsin Investment Partners in Madison, NEW Capital Fund in Appleton and Marquette University Golden Angels Network in Milwaukee - have invested in the company.
Flex Biomedical, which employs three people, plans to begin clinical trials late next year or in early 2011 on a synthetic polymer to treat osteoarthritis, said Sal Braico, the company's chief executive, who has moved to Madison.
The polymer, based on technology licensed from Boston University, is designed to lubricate and cushion arthritic joints, such as knees.
Flex Biomedical is the second company this summer lured from the Boston area to Madison, partly because of a loan from the state Department of Commerce. In June, Exact Sciences Corp., which is developing a non-invasive DNA test to screen for colon cancer, announced that it would move from Marlborough, Mass., to Madison.
