Portugal, September 16, 2011 – Stemmatters, SA, a biotechnological company, focused on the development of biomaterials, medical devices and advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMPs) targeting musculoskeletal conditions, has successfully closed its first funding round in the total amount of $2.25M (€1.6 M). The funding has involved several private investors, including three venture capital firms namely Pathena, Caixa Capital, and Beta Capital. The company will use the new funds to support the development of new technology and the launching of the business.
According to Rui L. Reis, President, CSO and Founder, Stemmatters aims “To relentlessly counteract the health impact of aging by developing and clinically deploying novel and effective products and services for tissue repair and regeneration. We want to make use of previous research experience from the 3B´s Research Group of U. Minho. At Stemmatters, we have been working in the development of new injectable biomaterials that can be used for a large variety of applications, including treatment of connective tissues like cartilage”. Stemmatters is currently developing new injectable hydrogels based on natural derived polysaccharides that can be used alone or in combination with cells for the treatment of musculoskeletal conditions. These unique materials can be processed with tunable crosslinking density using temperature, physiological cations and UV light, and can be injected at the defect site using minimally invasive procedures, while being ideal for cell encapsulation. Rui A. Sousa, CEO of Stemmatters added: “The orthobiologics market is and will continue to be a very exciting opportunity for a company such as ours as the key drivers for this market remain strong. We are very committed to research and development of new biomaterials, and to explore their combination with human stem/progenitor cells. The application potential of our materials can be significantly leveraged by our know-how in tissue engineering, as these materials constitute promising platforms for development of ATMPs”. In addition to its pipeline, Stemmatters is launching cell banking services targeting storage of adult stem cells from different tissue sources.
About Stemmatters
Stemmatters is focused on the development and marketing of novel products and services for tissue repair and regeneration, situated at Avepark Technological Park (Guimarães, Portugal). Stemmatters facilities are located in the top floor of the building hosting the Headquarters of the European Institute of Excellence on Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine. Company independent facilities include a GMP compliant plant for the processing and storage of human tissues and cells, and state of the art research and development laboratories.
