One of the four investment funds selected in 2010 to receive a second round of TNInvestco tax credit financing has put capital to work in a West Tennessee medical device manufacturer, allocating more than seven percent of the fund's original value, according to local sources.

Venture Nashville Connections reports that Memphis-based MB Ventures has pumped $1 million into Collierville-based Veracity Medical Solutions, an orthopedic device-prototyping and manufacturing company. The move correlates with MB Ventures' charter to invest in start-up medical device companies which then, assuming company growth, invest in similarly situated companies in keeping with the overall TNInvestco program initiated in 2009.

The putative class actions against BioMimetic Therapeutics are starting to pile up: Two more New York firms, Levi & Korsinsky and Harwood Feffer, say they've filed suit against the Franklin company over its disclosures related to the regulatory approval process for its Augment product. Shares of BioMimetic (Ticker: BMTI) have yet to reverse their downward trend since the FDA "moved the goal posts around during the game" in mid-May.

A New York law firm has filed a class action against BioMimetic Therapeutics, alleging the biomedical device maker has since the fall of 2009 misled investors about the FDA approval prospects of its Augment product.

Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose material facts regarding: (a) the Company's business, operations, management, future business prospects and the intrinsic value of BMTI's common stock; (b) the safety and efficacy of Augment and its prospects for FDA approval; and (c) the woeful inadequacies of Augment's clinical trials. As a result of the foregoing, the Company's statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.

BioMimetic goes before the FDA next Monday.

SEE ALSO: Law firm investigating BioMimetic from a few weeks ago

Franklin-based BioMimetic Therapeutics last week inked a deal to pay $1.5 million to global pharma giant Bristol-Myers Squibb that gives it a royalty-free irrevocable license for the rhPDGF growth tissue developed by ZymoGenetics. Bristol-Myers bought ZymoGenetics last fall for $885 million. Shares of BioMimetic (Ticker: BMTI) have had a rough 2011 — they're down more than 60 percent — but are up slightly this morning.

BioMimetic Therapeutics said today it has completed enrollment of 30 patients in a pilot clinical trial to assess the safety and performance of Augment Rotator Cuff Graft for the repair of large rotator cuff tears. The company expects to release data from the trial in the first half of 2012.

“Rotator cuff tears are a painful and debilitating condition in which the rotator cuff tendon no longer fully attaches to the head of the humerus and results in prolonged weakness and pain in the shoulder and an overall impaired quality of life,” said Robert Litchfield, MD, principle investigator for the Augment Rotator Cuff pilot study. “Rotator cuff tears are one of the most common problems encountered by orthopedic surgeons, and their repair is among the most commonly performed procedures in orthopedic soft tissue indications. The rapid enrollment of patients in this pilot study speaks to the surgeons’ desire to improve the outcomes of this frequent and difficult-to-treat condition."

The graft is a combination of BioMimetic's recombinant human platelet-derived growth factor-BB (rhPDGF-BB) and a collagen matrix. BioMimetic has received a patent for the treatment that will remain in force until February 2029.

BioMimetic recently received a recommendation for Food and Drug Administration approval of its Augment Bone Graft for foot and ankle surgeries by an FDA advisory panel. The company's stock (Ticker: BMTI) rose slightly on the news Tuesday morning. The company's shares are trading about 50 percent below their value prior to the FDA panel hearing.

The week after his company's latest regenerative bone product received a positive recommendation from a Food and Drug Administration panel, BioMimetic Therapeutics Chairman and CEO Sam Lynch cut a check for more than $100,000 to add to his stake in the company.

FBR Capital analyst Patrick Scholes has lowered his price target and cash flow estimates for Gaylord Entertainment following the company's Q1 report, which came in a bit softer than expected — in part because Gaylord isn't pushing 100 percent on future sales because it sees pricing rising. Scholes now expects Gaylord shares (Ticker: GET) to climb about 30 percent to $42 in the next couple of quarters, down from $44.

Fred Lowrance at Avondale Partners isn't as quick to pass judgment. He has kept his 'outperform' rating and $51 target, saying "the positive trends that drive GET's optimism seem sustainable and likely to support a prolonged recovery in group demand. In addition, we continue to believe that an announcement of the next new Gaylord resort will be well received by investors."

Shares of BioMimetic Therapeutics (Ticker: BMTI) are getting a 3 percent boost from JPMorgan analyst Michael Weinstein, who has raised his price target to $17 from $16. The Franklin-based company will next week face an FDA panel hearing on its Augment bone graft product.

The big piece of M&A news this week came from Johnson & Johnson, which agreed to pay more than $21 billion for Swiss orthopedic device maker Synthes. Bloomberg's Alex Nussbaum digs deeper into the sector and finds that rival players such as Stryker and Zimmer may have to follow suit. That likely makes Franklin-based BioMimetic Therapeutics an object of interest to a number of players.

J&J is generally considered a smart acquirer, said Matt Miksic, an analyst with Piper Jaffray in New York, in a telephone interview.

“They do good deals, and the idea they’re ready to step up and pay for an asset and begin consolidating around trauma and spine may” lead others to follow, Miksic said. “It’s the first of a number of steps in consolidation we’ll see.”