Milestone for Tissue Regenix as £20m made in fundraising

The York-based group said the cash will help it launch new applications for meniscus repair, ligament repair and heart valve replacement as well as expand the direct salesforce for DermaPure in the US.

Over the past six months the group has been rolling out​ ​its​ ​dCELL DermaPure product in the US.

The firm’s dCELL decellularisation process removes DNA and other cellular material from animal and human tissue leaving a tissue scaffold which is not rejected by the patient’s body.

This scaffold can then be used to repair diseased or worn-out body parts.

Chief executive Antony Odell said: “Our latest fundraising represents a milestone for the company.

“Having launched our first product, the time has now come to build up our US direct sales network to ensure we build coverage of hospitals in this key market.”

He added that the initial response to DermaPure has been extremely positive and the group is very excited by its potential.

“In addition, we have new products and applications in development that give us the potential to address new markets – including knee injury – which have massive potential. This fundraising will allow us to achieve these goals,” he said.

The company issued 105.2 million shares at 19p per share, about 14 per cent of its enlarged capi-tal.

In its wound care division, the company said it is making good progress on the commercialisation of its range of regenerative medicine products based on the dCELL process.

It added that the launch of DermaPure in the US will allow it to target the £900m a year market for skin substitutes.

Tissue Regenix USA has developed a distribution network covering ​over 80​ per cent​ of the US​.