NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Cellular Dynamics International (CDI) has reeled in $40.6 million in Series B private equity funding, the pluripotent stem cell developer said today.
The company plans to use the financing, which came from Sam Zell's Equity Group Investments and Sixth Floor Investors, to increase production capacity for its iCell Cardiomyocytes, which are human heart cells derived from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs).
The Madison, Wis.-based firm also plans to use the investment to launch additional human tissue cell products for use in biomedical and pharmaceutical drug development and safety research applications. It also intends to use the funding to expand beyond its cardiology-focused stem cells.
"We intend to launch liver, nerve, and blood vessel products over the next 18 months," Cellular Dynamics COO Chris Parker said in a statement.
The company grows its pluripotent stem cell lines from individual or skin or blood samples from adults.
Cellular Dynamics' technology "isolates and cultures skin or blood cells from donors and then coaxes them to turn back their developmental clock and become iPSCs, which can then be further directed to morph into any of the human body's 200+ cell types."