CHD Bioscience raises $1.7M as FDA approval, commercialization near

FORT COLLINS — CHD Bioscience Inc., closed recently on a $1.7 million equity funding round as the Fort Collins company moves toward commercialization of its first product later this year.

CEO Mike Handley said in a phone interview Monday that if all goes well, approval of the company’s first product by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration could come by mid-year.

Officials for CHD, which has developed an antimicrobial agent it calls Veriox, envision a wide range of uses for the technology, including in orthopedics, wound care and dermatology.

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Assuming FDA approvals, the first product headed for market is a small-bone implant made of polymer and titanium materials that is coated with CHD’s proprietary ingredient, which would help mitigate against infections. The implant is for use in the repair of damaged or disfigured fingers and toes, and is made to allow the bone to fuse to the device and straighten out.

But CHD isn’t exactly diving full-on into the medical device industry. Rather, the initial product is aimed at a relatively small market as sort of a proof of concept. If CHD can prove the device’s worth in small-bone procedures, the company would most likely seek to sell its antimicrobial coating to implant manufacturers for large-bone procedures like spine, knee and hip, for which the markets are in the billions of dollars.

“If we demonstrate that this product works in small bones … then it’s logical that it would work in large bones,” Handley said.

While CHD in its current form has been around only a few years, the company’s roots date back to 1997. Founded as Chata Biosystems, the company sold off its original core business — and name — to Texas-based Boval LP in 2011 so CHD could focus on the antimicrobial technology discovered by founder Ed Neas. Boval-owned Chata, which is now based in Loveland, makes customized solutions used by pharmaceutical companies for research-and-development testing.

CHD has raised $15 million since 2011 to develop Veriox. The new funding will serve as a bridge to a larger raise later this year. The new money will be used to continue product development and get ready for FDA approval. The next round, Handley said, will be used to help with commercialization of the small-bone implant as well as to continue developing other uses of the same active drug but in different formulations.

In wound care, CHD’s product could be used to coat bandages and wound dressings to prevent, or even treat, infections. In dermatology, the product would be completely therapeutic and used to treat drug-resistant infections.

CHD has 12 employees, and will likely grow once the next funding round is secured. The company currently contracts out manufacturing, though it’s possible that could change down the road as commercialization comes to fruition.

“We haven’t ruled out manufacturing it here,” Handley said.

Correction: The original version of this story mistakenly listed CHD Biosciences’ founding as 1977. The company started in 1997.