Japan-based cell therapy developer Cuorips has secured ¥1.6bn ($14.7m) from a consortium featuring regenerative medicine manufacturer CellSource and optics and medical engineering conglomerate Fujifilm.
The round included Handai Venture NVCC I and Kyodai Venture NVCC II, which are managed by venture capital firm Nippon Venture Capital on behalf of Osaka and Kyoto universities respectively.
VC firm Jafco’s SV6 and SV6-S funds filled out the investor list together with JIC Venture Growth Fund I, operated by the government-owned JIC Growth Investments.
Spun out of Osaka University in 2017 as Cuore, Cuorips is developing an induced pluripotent stem cell-based treatment for severe heart failure.
Fujifilm has entered into a partnership agreement with Cuorips that gives it priority negotiation rights for contract development and manufacturing of the company’s technology in the United States.
Medical equipment producer Asahi Intecc, construction firm Dai-Dan, cord blood bank StemCell Institute and pharmaceutical firm Taiko Pharmaceutical participated in a $19.3m round for Cuorips in December 2020, when Kyoto University invested through Kyoto University Innovation Capital (KU-iCap).
The company had received $9.1m in equity financing from clinical thermometer maker Terumo, pharmaceutical firm Daiichi Sankyo and KU-iCap in 2018, Daiichi Sankyo having already supplied an undisclosed sum the previous year.
The original version of this article appeared on our sister site, Global University Venturing.
