Native Orthopaedics’ Mission: Empowering surgeons to restore native anatomy
Co-Founded by CMO Dr. Christian Anderson and CEO Tom Gamache, Native Orthopaedics crafts creative, end-to-end surgical solutions and innovative tools that push the field of orthopedics into the future with simpler, more effective solutions that preserve the body’s native anatomy. Sports medicine orthopedics remains a massive multi-billion dollar addressable market with high growth rates ripe for innovation advancement. “As an orthopaedic surgeon, I have always had an interest in advancing sports medicine through research and innovation,” says Dr. Anderson, regarding the beginnings of Native Orthopaedics. “The roots of this passion go all the way back to high school when I created a novel fishhook design. From that point, it’s been my lifelong goal to create meaningful products that improve lives. I feel fortunate to be able to pursue my dream by creating some inspiring and innovative devices that focus on saving the knee.”
With an expert team in-place having experiences from the likes of Johnson & Johnson (J&J), Bard, Becton Dickinson (BD), Synthes, Moderna, Texas Instruments (TI), and Takeda, Native Orthopaedics’ first entries to the market are surgical solutions to treat meniscal root tears, the RootMend system and Ligamend to treat ACL repairs. Both the RootMend and Ligamend systems include a patented knotless suture chain with an integrated finger trap mechanism for one-step, lossless suture tensioning (like a zip tie). The systems are paired with an easy-to-use, no-tie button designed for fast, reliable fixation without knot tying. The RootMend and Ligamend systems, paired with the RootFinder guide, are designed to fit seamlessly into a surgeon’s normal workflow to increase procedural efficiency, add to your cognitive reserves, improve anatomical restoration, and achieve excellent outcomes with patient-specific tensioning.
Today, the standard of care relies on surgical tools and techniques, which lead to varying outcomes–knot tying varies widely amongst arthroscopists, and healing is dependent on appropriate tensioning. As a result, there are many cases of failed healing, which is a rapid cascade to osteoarthritis. Additionally, the procedure itself is cognitively demanding, even for the most skilled and experienced surgeons. In fact, there is a staggering failure rate of non-operative treatment of meniscal root tears, with up to 50% ending up in need of total knee replacement. Native Orthopaedics strives to solve these challenges and improve the standard of treatment & care through the Ligamend and RootMend systems.
How NEMIC Became a Pivotal Partner for Native Orthopaedics
Through industry overlap within NEMIC’s extensive network of professionals, Native Orthopaedics came into our orbit, namely through Chief Marketing Officer Brian Morley, who also serves as an expert advisor and instructor for NEMIC programs. In 2023, Managing Director Sam Grossman participated in and graduated from the ‘23-’24 cohort of NEMIC’s signature Med Tech Leadership Program (MTLP).
Funded by the RI Department of Labor & Training, the NEMIC MTLP is the most comprehensive education program for HealthTech innovators, entrepreneurs, industry professionals, clinicians, and anyone interested in learning how to commercialize a regulated medical technology successfully, and is free for Rhode Island-based residents, students, companies, and employees.
This summer, Native also joined NEMIC’s CoWorking network at our Providence, RI headquarters. This marks a proud achievement for NEMIC–as well as an important milestone for the State–in that, prior to joining us, Native Orthopaedics was an out-of-state company (formerly founded and based out of Tennessee) that saw value in establishing its operations here in Rhode Island, adding to our burgeoning Life Science industry. Such a move demonstrates Rhode Island’s aptitude and capability to succeed in the medical and health technology sector[s] independently from and in-adjacency to the crowded life sciences ecosystem in the Northeast.
Native Orthopaedics is currently seeking a $3M raise in seed capital via a SAFE, for use towards FDA submission, manufacturing & validation, and first in human Alpha launch. Native intends to bring its life-changing offerings to the market in the second quarter of 2025, and is excited about future innovations such as whole-body applications.
