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Artecel; Stemco Receive $4m Each

BT Catalyst, Dec, 2000

Venture capitalists keep putting their faith and money behind promising new state-spun biotechnology companies.

The most recent start-ups to get first-round funding of $4 million each are StemCo Biomedical Inc. and Artecel Sciences Inc. of Durham.

Artecel Sciences Inc. has completed a $4 million, first-round financing led by Eno River Capital LLC of Durham, which manages the North Carolina Biotechnology Center's Bioscience Investment Fund.

The new company will use the funds to advance its scientific and product development programs in human adipose (fat) tissue.

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"Stromal cells from fat can be programmed to differentiate into a variety of cell types, potentially providing a pathway to make repair of damaged tissue less expensive, less invasive and available to a wider population," said Carolyn Underwood, president and chief executive officer of Artecel Sciences.

"Artecel's proprietary technology has significant potential for addressing unmet medical need in the areas of soft tissue cosmesis, hematopoietic support in bone marrow transplantation and repair of bone and cartilage."

Artecel acquired and licensed intellectual property from Zen-Bio Inc. of Research Triangle Park. StemCo Biomedical Inc., which does not have a home yet, is a stem cell biology company focused on generating research, diagnostic and therapeutic agents. The company closed on a $4 million first-round package led by Intersouth Partners of Durham, with participation from Aurora Funds of Research Triangle Park.

"The area of stem cell technology has recently garnered considerable interest by those in the biotechnology and genomics sectors," said Dennis Dougherty, founding general partner of Intersouth Partners.

StemCo evolved from proprietary stem cell technology developed at Duke University Medical Center. Stem cells have the ability to differentiate into many cell types, so they have the potential for repopulating the blood system or regenerating organs and tissue.

Jonathan Lawrie, Ph.D., most recently the director of business development and head of the Becton Dickinson global biotechnology incubator program, will serve as CEO of StemCo.

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Artecel; Stemco Receive $4m Each

BT Catalyst, Dec, 2000

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