Dermelle, LLC (aka EternoGen, LLC), a Columbia, Missouri-based startup that works with collagen scaffolds for soft tissue therapeutic applications, has raised $920,427 to close its series A funding. This money will pay for the “full spectrum of safety tests” and pilot human studies to position the company for a regulatory clinical study in Europe and commercialization in European and Asian markets, according to company CEO Luis Jimenez.
The company still seeks $5,579,573, according to the regulatory filing it made with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on July 23. This money will be used for formal clinical study, a commercial-scale production facilities and rolling out the marketing and branding strategy to establish a sustainable, revenue-generating business model, Jimenez said.
To begin series B, the company plans to target venture capitalists as well as potential corporate partners.
“In an aesthetic market, we can be in the market at the end of 2014,” Jimenez said, emphasizing the technology being “extremely close” to commercialization.
The medical implications beyond cosmetic surgery are many, Jimenez said. The nanometric technology, being able to use any kind of nanoparticle, allows the company to look forward to research on skin regenerative wound healing, arthritis treatments that help lubricate and regenerate cartilage in joints and perhaps even bone regeneration.
Officers and directors included on the filing are Jimenez, Dr. Sheila Grant, Dr. Dale DeVore, Dr. Ron Bassuner, Rebecca Rone, Dr. Anthony Harris, David Keller, Dr. Guy Bouchard, David Grant and chief commercialization officer Anna Lundvall Tenstam, who is based in Stockholm and has globally managed four dermal fillers.
