Fate Therapeutics Inc., a company developing stem-cell treatments, has raised $9.2 million in equity. The disclosure was made Tuesday in a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Fate’s technology uses chemicals called stem-cell modulators that guide the path, or “fate” of non-embryonic stem cells as they mature. Left to themselves, stem cells grow unpredictably. So methods to increase the efficiency of “reprogramming” the cells into the desired kind are much in demand. The company’s most advanced treatment, ProHema, guides development of hematopoietic, or blood-forming stem cells. It’s in clinical trials for blood cancer patients who are getting stem-cell transplants.
