Boston’s Flex BioMedical follows $1 million to Wisconsin

MADISON, Wisconsin — Orthopedic pharmaceutical startup Flex BioMedical has left Boston for Wisconsin, thanks to both a state loan and private investment worth almost $1 million.

Public funding comes in the form of a $150,000 loan from the state’s Technology Venture Fund. Wisconsin Investment Partners, the NEW Capital Fund and Marquette Golden Angels led an additional private investment of $835,000, according to a company press release.

Flex wants to raise as much as $1.25 million in private equity, according to its recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. It’s said since January it would move to Wisconsin if it could secure enough private funding.

Flex is developing a polymer-based joint lubricant to reduce pain and increase mobility in osteoarthritis patients. It’s meant to replace hyaluronic acid injection treatments that in many cases keep pain away for six months to a year, but in some cases don’t work at all.

The company told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel it hopes to enter clinical trials on this product no later than 2011.