Promethera Raises $31.4 Million to Progress Progenitor Cell Therapy for Liver Diseases

Belgian cell therapy firm Promethera Biosciences raised €23.6 million (about $31.4 million) in a Series B round of financing. The funds come in the form of €17 million in capital from a group of five new investors, and a €6.6 million loan from the regional Walloon investment body, which has backed Promethera since its establishment in 2009. Promethera is a spin-out from the Université Catholique de Louvain (UCL), which is developing allogeneic adult stem cell therapies for liver diseases. The firm is currently focused on two products based on the recently discovered heterologous human adult liver progenitor cells (HHALPCs). Promethera HepaStem is an early-clinical-stage injectable cell therapy designed to treat severe genetic liver diseases in children and adults, and in particular Crigler-Najjar syndrome, urea cycle disorders, phenylketonuria, and glycogenosis Type-1.