Askel Healthcare Oy

Askel Healthcare is a Finnish medical technology company founded in 2017 set to transform surgical knee cartilage treatment and recovery. Askel's mission is to keep people in motion through the universal COPLA® implant, a ground-breaking innovation for repairing knee cartilage defects. 

Approximately one third of the general population have cartilage defects in the knee, although not all are symptomatic. In athletes, the numbers are higher up to 50%. It is well-documented that untreated knee cartilage defects can lead to osteoarthritis, the most common degenerative joint disease globally. (ref.1-2)

Askel's vision is to become the global standard of surgical cartilage repair. The COPLA® implant is the result of extensive academic research in the field of orthopaedics and tissue engineering, including extensive research by Askel co-founders, Dr. Muhonen and Dr. Haaparanta.

Askel has a proprietary, scalable, in-house manufacturing facility for global COPLA® production. The COPLA® implant is currently being tested in humans in Finland and Estonia.

Askel's strategic focus is obtaining EU and United States (US) market authorisations, strengthening the clinical evidence for the COPLA® implant and commercialising the product.

Products & business model

There is a significant unmet need among patients and orthopedic surgeons for an intervention that enables a fast return to activities after a painful cartilage defect. Askel's product COPLA® is designed, developed, and manufactured to answer this need.

COPLA® is a medical device that is implanted in a simple surgical operation on the damaged area of the knee joint surface. It enables biological healing of the joint surface for the patient to regain pain-free movement of the joint. Once COPLA® has done its job, it slowly biodegrades, and only the healthy joint surface is left behind. 

COPLA® is the only cartilage repair method that allows the patient to place full body weight on the operated leg immediately after the surgery. This means that patients can start rehabilitation exercises leading to complete and pain-free functionality. Moreover, the patients can expect good cartilage healing, providing long-term results as cartilage needs physical loading to fully repair itself. 

Askel is in the clinical validation phase aiming for market authorisation (legal permission to sell) in the EU countries and the US by 2028. Askel is a pre-revenue company until market authorisation is gained and commercial activities can start.

Advantages of COPLA®

Fast recovery: The exclusive properties of COPLA® enable fast recovery to pain-free activity. This is based on COPLA®’s unique capability to allow full weight-bearing of the operated leg immediately after surgery, leading to faster rehabilitation and good tissue quality. 

Universal product: Can be used from small to large knee cartilage damages allowing also mild osteoarthritis.  

Surgical simplicity: Implanted in a single surgical procedure with an easy-to-adapt technique using existing instruments. 

Affordability: An off-the-shelf product with favourable production economics guarantee competitive pricing. 

Joint preservation: Early intervention can repair the damaged joint surface and postpone, or even eliminate the need for total knee replacement surgery. The economic benefits are evidently extensive. 

Market 

The number of people suffering from painful knee osteoarthritis worldwide has more than doubled over the past three decades. (ref. 4.) Market data reports estimate the total accessible knee cartilage repair market to be from around one up to over three billion USD with an average growth estimate of around 10% per year. (ref. 7-10.) Current treatment options are either expensive, up to 40,000 USD or are not effective in the long-run. (ref. 12–14.) There is a need for affordable and validated knee cartilage repair solutions that could be solved with Askel’s solution.

Askel will apply for market authorisation in the EU by submitting the data to the Notified Body (NB) once all the testing has been performed to demonstrate the safety and performance of COPLA®. The NB performs conformity assessment procedure, and with a positive resolution, COPLA® will be a CE-marked device and sales in the EU countries can begin. 

In the US, COPLA® has been granted Breakthrough Device Designation from the The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in September 2021. Medical devices that are given the breakthrough status are devices that provide more effective treatment of irreversibly debilitating diseases that the devices that are currently on the market. The Breakthrough Devices Program offers manufacturers an on-going access to interact with the FDA’s experts and receive feedback from the FDA during the design and development phase. This means that the material submitted for market authorisation is more likely to comply with the requirements.

Dr. Virpi Muhonen

Chief Executive Officer, Co-founder, Board member

Virpi has an MSc in animal physiology and a PhD in orthopaedic cell biology. As a principal investigator, she has successfully raised funding for multidisciplinary research projects, which she has thrivingly led. She has supervised multiple MSc and PhD theses and is a credited author in over 20 academic publications. In addition, she has been recognised for her commitment to promoting academic entrepreneurship and the impact of research. Virpi also serves as a board member of the Finnish Research Impact Foundation.

Dr. Anne-Marie Haaparanta

Chief Technology Officer, Co-founder, Board member

Anne-Marie has an MSc in biomaterials and a PhD in biomedical engineering. She has over 15 years of experience in research on biomaterials developing and manufacturing composite scaffolds and membranes for multiple biomedical applications. She has supervised multiple BSc and MSc theses and is a credited author in over 15 academic publications. Her scientific work and multidisciplinary cooperation led to the invention of COPLA®, the cartilage repair device. 

Niina Huikuri

Chief Commercial Officer

Niina has been the CCO for Askel Healthcare since the fall of 2022. She holds an MSc in business administration. She has previously worked in various leadership roles in Optomed, Johnson & Johnson and Boehringer Ingelheim in business development, sales, marketing, and communications. She has experience in IPO processes, international financing rounds, and investor and analyst communication. She has been a leadership group member responsible for establishing a subsidiary and starting commercial operations in the USA. She is also a member of the Board of a medical devices R&D and manufacturing company.

Petra Raatikka

Director, Clinical Operations

Petra has been the Clinical Operations Director for Askel Healthcare since the fall of 2021. Previously, she has led clinical research strategies for various business segments in GE Healthcare. Petra has over 15 years of experience bringing clinical insights to global medical device projects and medical innovations. She has a background as a registered nurse in Intensive Care and has been a company representative in academic health technology collaborations nationally. In addition, Petra has extensive clinical evidence-generation expertise for regulatory and marketing needs for different regions.

Dr. Niina Ahola

Director, Research and Development (R&D)

Niina has been the R&D Director of Askel Healthcare since November 2021. She holds an MSc in chemical engineering and a PhD in biomedical engineering. She has a strong background in the research of bioabsorbable materials and the behaviour of these materials throughout their lifetime. She has more than 15 years of experience in the research and development of medical biomaterials and has worked in various roles in academia and industry.  

Mirva Ekman

Director, Quality Assurance and Regulatory Affairs (QA&RA)

Mirva has been the QA&RA Director at Askel Healthcare since November 2021. She holds an MSc in mechanical engineering. Before Askel, she led the QA&RA functions at ConMed Linvatec Biomaterials and Arctic Biomaterials as part of the management team. She has also worked in different quality positions at Perlos in Finland and China. Her over 20 years of experience includes implantable, biodegradable medical devices and establishing and maintaining quality management systems according to regulatory requirements.

More detailed information on the valuation of the company can be found in the information memorandum.