Industry Update: Capital market and finances

Written by Dusko ILIC
Industry developments Journal articles Spotlight on cell therapy regulation

Latest business l developments compiled from March 01 — 31, 2016.

Latest business developments in the field of stem cell research and
regenerative medicine compiled from publicly available information and
press releases from non-academic institutions from March 01 — 31 2016, scheduled to be published in Volume 11 Issue 5 of Regenerative Medicine.

Emulate

Emulate (MA, USA; www.emulatebio.com) has secured US$ 28 million of its Series B financing that hopes to accelerate translation of its Organs-on-Chips technology into a commercially available ‘Human Emulation System’. The Organs-on-Chips technology purports to offer the potential for greater precision and control than today’s cell-culture or animal-based experimental methods. Proceeds of the financing will be used to advance Emulate’s product design and development across a range of activities, including:

  • Launch of the Human Emulation System as an automated product suite that includes Organ-Chips, instrumentation hardware, and software applications — the plug-and-play system will allow end users to easily conduct experiments within their own labs, without requiring specialized expertise. The system also allows higher throughput, customizable and human-relevant studies.
  • Expansion of the Organ-Chip portfolio to extend beyond the lung, liver, intestine, and skin for additional organs such as kidney, heart, and brain.
  • Acceleration of disease-state applications for Organ-Chips, to gain further understanding of mechanisms of diseases in key areas of focus for industry — including neurodegenerative diseases, oncology, intestinal diseases and the microbiome, and infectious diseases.

Osiris Therapeutics

Osiris Therapeutics (MD, USA; www.osiris.com) has received a letter from The NASDAQ Stock Market notifying the Company that it is not in compliance with NASDAQ Listing Rule 5250 (c)(1) because its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015 was not filed on a timely basis with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The NASDAQ letter dated March 17, 2016 requires the Company to submit a plan within 60 days to regain compliance with NASDAQ’s filing requirements for continued listing.