Johns Hopkins-linked company gets funding to develop skin, muscle tissue from cells
A Baltimore company spun out of research at Johns Hopkins University raised $28.5 million in its first financing round to support development of aesthetic and regenerative tissue products.
LifeSprout's lead product, called Lumina, promotes regeneration of tissue, such as skin or muscle. The first product will be a filler that is made to feel like natural tissue. It could be used for aesthetic or reconstructive purposes for people who have lost tissue due to aging, cancer, metabolic disease or other reasons.
Later products will use the regeneration technology to develop therapies for people with orphan diseases—diseases that are either rare or common but ignored because they effect developing countries rather than the developed world.
The Series A funding came from Redmile Group LLC, Nexus Management LP, Emerald Development Managers LP and the Abell Foundation. Earlier funding came from the Maryland Stem Cell Research Fund.
The privately held company uses technology licensed from Hopkins. It was founded in 2015 by scientists and surgeons from the university, including Dr. Sashank Reddy, an assistant professor of plastic and reconstructive surgery and medical director of Johns Hopkins Technology Ventures.
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