Stratatech Corp. has raised $3 million to continue developing a genetically engineered human skin substitute, according to a regulatory filing.
The fundraise comes in the form of debt, options, warrants or other securities, the document filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission said. Robert Barnard, a company official, declined comment on the funding.
The company’s lead product is called StrataGraft skin tissue and is made of human cells that act as a temporary wound cover, fight bacterial infections and promote healing by a patient’s own cells. The skin substitute is intended for use by burn victims or patients suffering from chronic, non-healing wounds, such as diabetic foot ulcers.
The skin substitute is used to cover a patient’s skin so it can heal for a number of weeks before the next phase of an operation. Typically, cadaver skin is used for that purpose, but that can bring infection risks associated with contamination.
In January, Stratatech said it had reached an agreement with an unidentified Fortune 200 company to “create a product that prevents skin wounds by enhancing the resiliency of compromised or susceptible skin.” Stratatech said at the time that the StrataGraft product was proceeding through clinical trials that would help it along the path to approval by the Food and Drug Administration.
The company was founded in 2000 by Lynn Allen-Hoffman, a University of Wisconsin pathology professor. The company had raised about $11.5 million from angel investors through February 2009, according to an article in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Stratatech has also grabbed $14.5 million in federal research grants from agencies such as the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Defense.
Stratatech’s revenue falls between $1 million and $5 million, according to the regulatory filing.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
