InGeneron Adds $23M to Test Stem Cell Therapy for Rotator Cuff Tears

Houston — Stem-cell technology developer InGeneron has added another $23 million to a Series D financing it announced in 2017, bringing the total of the funding round to $43 million.

Based in Houston, InGeneron plans to use the money for a clinical study in rotator cuff tendinopathy, a swelling of the tendons and muscles that support the shoulder joint. The condition, which is caused by sports activity or other repeated stresses to the joint, can lead to pain and stiffness that makes it difficult to swing or otherwise move your arms. InGeneron plans to study the safety and effectiveness of the adipose-derived regenerative cells, cells that it isolates from a patients’ own fat tissue to help heal peoples’ damaged rotator cuffs. The funding will also be used for other clinical studies in wrist osteoarthritis and facet joint syndrome.

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Like the $20 million it raised in 2017, InGeneron’s new $23 million in funding came from Sanford Health, a large hospital chain based in Sioux Falls, SD, which conducted an initial small feasibility study for the company. The company has raised another $18 million previously from family offices and individuals in the US and Germany. InGeneron also has an office in Munich, and its product, known as Transpose RT, received approval in Europe in 2014.

While InGeneron is going through the steps to gain FDA approval for its product in the US, many others in the stem cell injection market don’t. A ruling from a federal court last week allowed the FDA to prevent Sunrise, FL-based clinic US Stem Cell from injecting patients with an extract the clinic said had stem cells, according to a report by The New York Times that examined the prevalence of stem cell injection clinics.

InGeneron was founded in 2006.

Author: David Holley

David is the national correspondent at Xconomy. He has spent most of his career covering business of every kind, from breweries in Oregon to investment banks in New York. A native of the Pacific Northwest, David started his career reporting at weekly and daily newspapers, covering murder trials, city council meetings, the expanding startup tech industry in the region, and everything between. He left the West Coast to pursue business journalism in New York, first writing about biotech and then private equity at The Deal. After a stint at Bloomberg News writing about high-yield bonds and leveraged loans, David relocated from New York to Austin, TX. He graduated from Portland State University.