Cell therapy company Histocell has completed a 3 million euros financing round, which will enable it to further develop its R&D over the next four years. Histocell’s new partners mean added value for the company, as they are highly regarded companies in the health and biopharmaceutical sector and also because they have extensive experience in the Spanish world of business and finance.

“The warm reception that our offer has had show us the support and confidence for Histocell among business people and companies in the biopharmaceutical sector in Spain”, affirmed Julio Font, President of Noray Biosciences Group (Noray BG), the group that Histocell is part of.

Among the new shareholders, medical insurer Igualatorio Médico Quirúrgico (IMQ) shows its decision to become an active player in the health sector with this share purchase and, more specifically in this case, its firm backing for Basque biotechnology. Also present is the Risk Capital Investment Company of the Basque Development Agency SPRI and private investors from the business and financial sector such as the Erictel group or Mikel Urizarbarrena, founder of Panda Software. The new shareholders now hold 23.8% of the company’s capital, with the majority holding remaining in hands of Noray BG.

Histocell’s managers, who have led the financing round, have looked for the entry of these and other relevant shareholders so that, as well as capital, they can bring added value to the company. Font maintains that “these new partners are joining the company to accompany us in the medium and long term in the development of R&D”. “Our objective is to put two of the osteoarticular regeneration products that we are working on into clinical phases”, he says.

Histocell is a biotechnology company that specialises in tissue engineering and cell therapy for application in regenerative medicine, and it is part of the Noray BG group. This new area is causing a revolution in the current healthcare sector, as it opens the door to developing innovative treatments and therapies for repairing or even substituting tissues that have been damaged as a result of degenerative illnesses or traumatic injuries that lack current effective treatment.

With an accumulated investment of €2.5 million in the last two years, Histocell has become one of only two Spanish companies with installations authorised by the Spanish Drug Agency for the manufacture of drugs for advanced cell therapy. In addition, it is authorised by the Basque Government in tissues and as a health centre for this type of processes, as well as having stable agreements with professionals for the supply of samples, research projects approved by the appropriate ethical committees, intellectual property and own products, highly qualified personnel in tissue engineering and a management team that is independent of the founding partners and which has a clear market orientation.