Singapore, March17, 2008: ePlanet Ventures, one of the leading global venture capital firm headquartered in Silicon Valley, California, has announced a Series B investment in Korea Bone Bank,  the largest and one of only two Korea Food and Drug Administration approved processor of allograft bones and connective tissues for transplant.

 

Headquartered in Seoul, Korea, Korea Bone Bank is benefiting from the growth of the market that is driven by aging population prevalent in developed countries like US, Western Europe, Japan, Korea, etc. Accelerating the trend is general obesity and lack of exercise, which contribute to more bone fractures. Allograft procedures are increasingly covered by medical insurance, fueling patient demand for allograft instead of conventional metal instrument implantation.

 

Mr Jerry Cho, Managing Director, ePlanet said, “We have been very impressed with Korea Bone Bank’s growth, and believe the company is well-positioned to take advantage of the expected global surge in demand.”

 

Mr Asad Jamal, Chairman and CEO of ePlanet Ventures, said, “We are very excited to invest in Korea Bone Bank as we believe in its growth prospects. The investment further widened the breadth of ePlanet Venture’s substantial portfolio in the Life Sciences, Healthcare and Medical Devices sector, and we intend to leverage on our expertise to help Korea Bone Bank expand internationally.”

 

Founded in 1997, Korea Bone Bank provides full range of products for bone tissue transplantation including allograft, bone cage, tendon, meniscus, cancellous bone chips, allograft paste, femur head, proximal, fibular shaft, skin graft, bone morphogenetic protein, and demineralized bone matrix, etc. It serves various surgery markets including orthopedic, neurological, oral/maxillofacial, dental, and general clinical markets. It supplies these products to over 330 hospitals in Korea.