Lotus Tissue Repair, a Cambridge, MA-based developer of recombinant collagen type VII (rC7) technology as a treatment for dermatologic conditions, closed a $26m Series A financing.
The round was led by Third Rock Ventures.
The company intends to use the proceeds to advance its proprietary recombinant collagen type VII (rC7) technology as a protein replacement therapy in development for the treatment of dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (DEB), an orphan disease that causes devastating skin blisters, morbidity and early mortality.
Future applications of the technology include treatments for dermatologic conditions in which rC7 may play an important role in accelerating chronic wound healing, such as diabetic foot ulcers, venous stasis ulcers and similar conditions.
CEO Mark de Souza, Ph.D., co-founded Lotus along with chairman and CFO James Fordyce and Philip Reilly, M.D., J.D and the inventors of the rC7 technology, Mei Chen, Ph.D. and David Woodley, M.D., who are professors of dermatology at the University of Southern California.
The company has also signed an exclusive license with the University of Southern California for the patent portfolio and technology surrounding the research of Drs. Chen and Woodley.
Lotus Tissue Repair’s board of directors includes:
– Dr. de Souza,
– Mr. Fordyce,
– Mr. Neil Exter, partner at Third Rock Ventures
– Dr. Reilly, interim chief medical officer of the company and venture partner at Third Rock Ventures.
In addition, Barbara A. Gilchrest, M.D., past chair of the Department of Dermatology at the Boston University School of Medicine, will join Drs. Chen and Woodley as a scientific advisor.
FinSMEs
30/06/2011