Twin Star Medical Inc. is moving to the Excelen orthopedic and bone research center in downtown Minneapolis.
The start-up, which is currently based at University Enterprise Laboratories in St. Paul, will lease a 4,000 square-foot space in the building located next to Hennepin County Medical Center beginning in November.
Excelen, a nonprofit group, is raising $12 million to renovate its existing facilities, build new offices and wet labs and establish a seed fund to back startups housed in the building — MedCity News operates its Minnesota bureau at Excelen.
“The concept of marrying science, talent, location and capital is resonating with the medical device community,” Excelen CEO Tim Mowbray said in a prepared statement. “Companies such a Twin Star are seeing the value of the infrastructure we have built here.”
Built in the 1940s, the facility was originally a dormitory for Swedish nurses before becoming the central business office for Allina Hospitals & Clinics.
Orthopedic surgeons Richard Kyle and Ramon Gustilo, United Properties, med-tech entrepreneur Harlan Jacobs and Dave Durenberger, an orthopedic administrator and son of former U.S. Senator David Durenberger, donated the $3.8 million building to Excelen.
Twin Star is developing micro-porous catheters that can better deliver drug therapies and wound care, especially to U.S. soldiers.
“Our business is maturing, and we needed a location that can support our growth,” CEO Jim Stice said in a statement. “The proximity to HCMC will make human studies a whole lot easier, our important collaborators are right there, and we have access to laboratory facilities and equipment.”