Altach Biomedical 2

Altach Biomedical is a spin-out from Trinity College Dublin, founded in 2022 to commercialise a tissue-specific, Type-II collagen-based scaffold for chondral and osteochondral defect repair. The technology is the result of over 15 years of research within TCD's musculoskeletal tissue engineering group and has been validated through multiple peer-reviewed publications and successful pre-clinical large-animal studies.

Key highlights:

• The company has secured EUR1.55M in early funding to date, including investment from NLC Health Ventures, Enterprise Ireland (HPSU), and private investors.
• Altach has established a reproducible ECM manufacturing process with HCM Medical
• Establishment of a functional R&D laboratory at the University of Galway Business Innovation Centre.
• Large-animal feasibility and GLP study preparation in collaboration with Veranex (Paris).
• Altach's primary strategic objective over the next five years is to bring CartiFix to pivotal clinical evaluation and position the company for regulatory approval in both the EU and the US.
• The global cartilage repair market is large and expanding. It was valued at $4.5 billion in 2020 and is projected to grow at a ~5.8% CAGR through 2027
• Current therapies often fail to regenerate true hyaline cartilage, leading to repeat surgeries and accelerated osteoarthritis. No gold-standard solution exists, leaving room for genuine innovation.
• Altach's CartiFix scaffold is the only regenerative implant built from Type-II collagen-rich, tissue-specific extracellular matrix derived from articular cartilage. Over a decade of research, multiple peer-reviewed publications, and successful large-animal studies demonstrate that CartiFix regenerates hyaline-like cartilage and subchondral bone -- a level of evidence rare at this stage for a start-up.
• Altach holds exclusive rights to a granted, international patent covering the method for producing porous ECM scaffolds for chondral and osteochondral repair. The licence is exclusive, perpetual, and global.
• Altach's early engagement with FDA Pre-RFD processes, EU MDR alignment, and multi-partner characterisation work creates a significant lead time. Competitors face years of development to reach current readiness.
• The company already has secured EUR2.5m of investment commitments in this funding round, including investments from institutional investors like NLC and Castanjo.