This past June, Humacyte, an emerging biotechnology company focusing on technology to grow stable, “off-the-shelf” human tissue replacements exclusively licensed their human acellular vessel, Humacyl, to Fresenius Medical Care. The investment gives Fresenius 19% fully diluted ownership stake in Humacyte.
This investment is added to the $75,000 in Series C preferred stock financing secured in March. Prior to Fresenius, the company had received more than $405 million in total funding to date, with more than $365 million in private investments and awards of up to $40 million through federal and state grants and contracts.
Humacyte was founded by former Duke professor Laura Niklason and includes Duke alums Shannon Dahl and Juliana Blum. A target goal of the company has been to create lifesaving and long-lasting vascular access or replacement for patients with End Stage Renal Disease.
HUMACYL is an investigational product that has not yet been approved by the FDA. However, clinical trials to date suggest that HUMACYL has the potential to become a part of the body’s living tissue. These trials also suggest that HUMACYL may have the potential to last longer with fewer complications than existing synthetic alternatives used for hemodialysis access, possibly lowering healthcare costs by decreasing the number of surgical interventions.
About Humacyte
Humacyte, Inc., a privately held company founded by Dr. Laura E. Niklason, M.D., Ph.D., in 2004, is a medical research, discovery and development company with clinical and pre-clinical stage investigational products. Humacyte is primarily focused on developing and commercializing a proprietary novel technology based on human tissue-based products for key applications in regenerative medicine and vascular surgery. The company uses its innovative, proprietary platform technology to engineer human, extracellular matrix-based tissues that can be shaped into tubes, sheets, or particulate conformations, with properties similar to native tissues. These are being developed for potential use in many specific applications, with the goal to significantly improve treatment outcomes for many patients, including those with vascular disease and those requiring hemodialysis. The company’s proprietary technologies are designed to create off-the-shelf products that, once approved, can be utilized in any patient.
