CellTran Ltd, a Sheffield based wound-care company and part of the Biofusion portfolio, announces today that it has raised £2.7 million in a private funding round. The syndicate was led by new investor the YFM Group and included existing investors, Biofusion and White Rose Seedcorn Fund, along with new investor, Partnerships UK plc.
The proceeds of the funding round will be used by CellTran in three areas: to continue development of its innovative surface chemistry and tissue-engineering technologies with a focus on wound-care products; to progress its lead product Myskin through clinical trials in which it is being evaluated as a potential treatment for diabetic foot ulcers; and to expand its sales and marketing efforts of Myskin as a treatment for chronic wounds and burns.
Commenting on the fundraising, Mal Jarmolowicz, CEO of CellTran, said: “I am delighted to have completed this fundraising, which we anticipate will bring us to profitability. We believe our revolutionary product, which uses a patient’s own cells to treat their difficult-to-heal skin wounds, can become an extremely effective part of long-term wound management leading to wound healing This represents an attractive market opportunity and one where we believe we can create significant value for our shareholders.”
David Baynes, CEO of Biofusion, said: “CellTran is a company with a very promising future and we are delighted that it has been able to raise these development funds and broaden its investor base. This is the first fundraising by one of our portfolio companies since Biofusion’s listing and is an excellent example of how Biofusion commercialises university IP by providing support to companies with great technology and clear business objectives.”
Following the fundraising, Biofusion is the largest shareholder in CellTran with a shareholding of 26.8% (24.1% fully diluted). As a result of this fundraising, Peter Armitage from the YFM Group and Dr Michele Hill-Perkins from Partnerships UK will join the CellTran board of directors.
James Stewart, the CEO of Partnerships UK said: “Partnerships UK is building a reputation for supporting technological advances and innovative new research across the government funded public sector’s science and technology portfolio.” PUK’s investment in CellTran, a spin out from Sheffield University, will support further clinical trials in wound healing, which we anticipate will lead to improved patient benefit, increased market acceptance of the product and reduced costs to the health sector.
Contacts
Biofusion David Baynes/Stuart Gall +44 (0) 114 275 5555
CellTran Mal Jarmolowicz, CEO +44 (0) 114 222 0980
Citigate Dewe Rogerson Chris Gardner/David Dible +44 (0) 20 7638 9571
Partnerships UK Malcolm Graves +44 (0) 20 7270 5161
About Biofusion
Biofusion was established in 2002 to commercialise university-generated IP. In February 2005 Biofusion listed on Aim and raised £8.2m for the commercialisation of IP owned by the University of Sheffield in the area of medical life sciences. It has agreed a ten-year exclusive arrangement with the University which also gives Biofusion shareholdings in an existing portfolio of eight spin-out companies. The University of Sheffield is a world class life sciences research centre, spending £30m in 2002/3 on research in medical life sciences. This spending level is expected to grow year on year giving an estimated £0.5bn of research funding over the next ten years. The University, which celebrates its centenary this year, can count five Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and researchers, and data from the latest UK Government’s Research Assessment Exercise 2001 (“RAE 2001) showed it ranked fifth in the UK for the quality of its life sciences research.
www.biofusion.com
About CellTran CellTran was created in 2000 at the University of Sheffield, with support from the White Rose Seedcorn Fund, to develop innovative cell-based treatments for chronic wounds and burns. Two key components underpin CellTran’s technology: the culture of a patient’s own cells for treatment of their wounds; and the development of novel transfer materials on which specific cell types may be cultured. This technology is proprietary, scaleable and transferable.
A regulatory strategy is in place designed to ensure compliance with the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency’s Code of Practice for the Production of Human-derived Therapeutic Products, and CellTran is now marketing its product, Myskin, in the UK.
Myskin was launched into the UK burns market in April 2004 by CellTran’s UK distribution partner, Vernon Carus. Patients with severe burns have already been treated with this product and promising results have been achieved treating non-healing wounds in recently completed proof-of-concept trials.
CellTran is currently running a randomised, controlled, multi-centre trial in diabetic foot ulcers and will be starting a market positioning trial, for Myskin™ in August.
www.celltran.co.uk
About the YFM Group The YFM Group provides a range of venture capital, business development and property services to small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs).
The investment services offered are designed to meet the needs of UK based SMEs investing sums of £150,000 to £9 million in UK based companies
In the Yorkshire and Humber region YFM provide consultancy services, using third party specialists, to help SMEs with the change programmes that they are trying to implement. In addition we have developed and now manage a couple of industrial estates in West Yorkshire.
YFM is headquartered in Leeds with several other offices throughout the UK. www.yfmgroup.co.uk
About Partnerships UK
Partnerships UK plc is a public private partnership (PPP), 49% owned by HM Treasury and supports the Government’s science and technology programme. PUK combines private sector expertise with a strong public mission, placing it in a pivotal position to bridge the relationships between the public and private sectors. As part of its business activities, PUK makes strategic equity investments in corporate ventures to support the public sector’s drive to bring about developments in R&D.
For more information: www.partnershipsuk.org.uk/BusinessSectors/Equity.html
About White Rose Technology Seedcorn Fund The White Rose Technology Seedcorn Fund (WRTSF) is an early stage seedcorn fund, which invests in exciting new technology emerging from the Universities of York, Leeds and Sheffield. The £9m Fund provides venture capital funding of up to £500,000 to help growing companies with management input, advice and experience and bring an investor’s viewpoint to bear at an early stage. WRTSF provides investment to enable the transition from promising research work to commercial reality. The Fund invests in companies with exciting growth potential, protectable IP and committed management teams. WRTSF is owned by the Universities of York, Leeds and Sheffield, and managed by Aberdeen Murray Johnstone Private Equity. For more information:
www.whiteroseseedcorn.com