Scaffolds in Tissue Engineering

Outside of stem cells, it’s fair to say that the related areas of cell therapy and tissue engineering have not been particularly trendy areas for early-stage start-up investment in recent years—especially when it comes to the engineering of novel scaffolds that encourage the growth of tissue and organs. Of the companies highlighted in START-UP’s analysis of 2007’s trends in Series A financings, only the aesthetics company Follica Inc., which raised $5.5 million in December 2007, [See Deal] made the cut, and its strategy, rather than applying a bioactive cellular matrix of some sort, is to use a known drug to reprogram stem cells in the scalp to treat male- or female-pattern baldness. (See "The A-List: 2007’s Trend Shaping Series A Financings," START-UP, January 2008 Also see "The A-List: 2007's Trend Shaping Series A Financings" - Scrip, 1 January, 2008..) Nor did any tissue engineering start-ups make the prior year’s trends list, but one of 2005’s top movers, Tengion Inc., a developer of autologous organs, was recognized there for its $50 million Series B financing in June 2006. It was also the beneficiary of a $33 million Series C round in October 2007. [See Deal][See Deal] (See "Tengion Inc.," START-UP, September 2005 Also see "Tengion Inc." - Scrip, 1 September, 2005..)

Apart from Tengion, most of the tissue-engineering-related money flow in 2007 went to stem-cell-oriented companies. Fate Therapeutics Inc. launched last November with $12 million in hand to develop its...