Histogenics said it raised another $49 million for its regenerative cartilage treatments, as it proceeds with a clinical trial for its NeoCart treatment and pursues CE Mark approval for its VeriCart system.
The round was led by Sofinnova Ventures and including backing from new investors Split Rock Partners, BioMed Ventures and FinTech GIMV Fund. Prior backers ProChon Holdings BV, Altima Partners, Foundation Medical Partners, Inflection Point Capital and Boston Millennia Partners also kicked in.
The round takes Histogenics’ total take to at least $83 million, including a $34 million debt-and-equity round last year after it merged with ProChon Biotech in May 2011.
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The NeoCart device uses patients’ cells to regenerate knee cartilage. Histogenics launched the 245-patient NeoCart trial in July 2010 to compare use of the implant with standard microfracture surgery to repair damaged knee cartilage. Microfracture surgery involves drilling small holes in bone to fill the defect with blood clots. The NeoCart device uses neocartilagenous tissue developed from patients’ chondrocyte cells, which are integrated into a 3-dimensional collagen matrix.
"We believe the quality of the investors and the significant level of commitment demonstrated in this financing speak to the potential of our product candidates to transform the treatment of cartilage injury with the goal of returning patients to their pre-injury level of activity," president & CEO Patrick O’Donnell said in prepared remarks. "With continued positive clinical results, we believe our Phase III product candidate, NeoCart, has considerable potential as a much-needed treatment alternative for a significant portion of these patients. The successful completion of this financing fully funds the company to reach key clinical and commercial milestones for NeoCart and VeriCart and allows us to focus our full attention on continued successful clinical and regulatory execution."
The VeriCart system is a collagen scaffold designed to be used with patients’ stem cells to repair small defects during meniscal and anterior cruciate ligament repair procedures, according to a press release.
Soffinova’s Dr. Garheng Kong and Josh Baltzell of Split Rock Venture will join the Histogenics board, according to the release.
