Nanochon, a Baltimore-based medical device company, announced on September 2, 2026 that it successfully treated the first patient in the First-in-Human clinical study for Chondrograft™, its 3D-printed implant for knee cartilage repair. The milestone follows the $4.1 million Seed Prime II round Nanochon closed in January, which was earmarked specifically to fund this trial. Co-Founder and CEO Ben Holmes said: “The speed at which Dr. Osorio and the clinical team were able to identify, enroll, and treat the first patient underscores the significant unmet clinical need in cartilage repair.This milestone marks an important step forward for Nanochon as we continue generating the clinical evidence required to support a future Level 1 pivotal study.”
What Chondrograft Is Built to Do
Chondrograft is designed for focal articular cartilage defects of the knee in patients not yet candidates for joint replacement, using what Nanochon calls a “burn-no-bridges” approach: a minimally invasive implant that provides immediate mechanical support without foreclosing future treatment options. The prospective study, now underway at The Panama Clinic in Panamá after Panamá’s Ministry of Health cleared it to begin, is enrolling patients ages 22 to 60 with one or two cartilage lesions on the femoral condyle and/or trochlea who have failed conservative treatment.
Dr. Emilio Tufiño, one of the regenerative sports medicine specialists on the case, described the procedure itself as “bone-sparing, minimally invasive, and streamlined,” adding that “the dedicated instrumentation set made the procedure simple and efficient.” Nanochon holds FDA Breakthrough Device Designation for the implant and says the plan beyond this feasibility study is a Level 1 multi-center, randomized, controlled pivotal trial.
From Seed Funding to the Operating Room
Nanochon’s stated plan back in January was to launch its first-in-human study in Canada; the trial has since moved forward in Panama instead, with Principal Investigator Dr. Juan Osorio calling it a milestone worth marking in its own right: “I am pleased to be the Principal Investigator for this important study, and we are excited to be the first to initiate clinical study enrollment.The team here in Panamá looks forward to contributing the data that will support a larger clinical study and subsequent market entry.”
Co-Founder and CTO Nathan Castro framed the broader stakes: “Our vision is to fundamentally change the treatment paradigm for cartilage injuries and potentially delay or eliminate the need for revision surgery and knee replacement procedures in younger patients.We believe Chondrograft™ has the potential to provide physicians with a simpler, more effective approach to cartilage treatment.”
Sean Churchill, MD, Managing Director at lead investor cultivate (MD), pointed to the preclinical foundation behind the milestone: “Developing a solution that enables the body to regenerate durable cartilage with the strength and function of native tissue has long been considered one of the holy grails of orthopedic medicine. Nanochon’s preclinical work has demonstrated highly encouraging results, and we are excited to see this technology now being evaluated in human patients.”
About Nanochon
Nanochon, Inc. is a medical device company developing innovative solutions for cartilage repair in patients who are not yet candidates for joint replacement. The company’s lead technology, Chondrograft™, is designed to address focal cartilage defects through a minimally invasive regenerative approach. Nanochon has received Breakthrough Device Designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Nanochon, is developing an implant designed to not only replace lost and damaged cartilage, but also to encourage new tissue growth. Using 3-D printing and a novel material, the Nanochon implant is a sturdy medical advancement that is both an orthopedic load bearing implant as well a tissue growth scaffold. The Nanochon implant has the potential to deliver faster and more successful recoveries for patients, while reducing costs to health providers, payers, and patients. Nanochon’s aim is to set a new clinical standard for cartilage restoration.
