Denteric, a UK-based periodontal gum disease vaccine developer spun out of University of Melbourne, attracted $14m of series A funding today from investors including biotechnology producer CSL.
The round included University of Melbourne itself as well as the Australian government-backed Biomedical Translation Fund, which is managed by venture capital firm Brandon Capital.
Denteric is developing a vaccine treatment for periodontal gum disease. Also known as periodontitis, the disease occurs when plaque from teeth becomes lodged beneath the gum line and damages surrounding bone structures, causing serious long-term oral health problems.
The series A cash will be used to advance the company’s Porphyromonas gingivalis vaccine with a view to beginning its first clinical trial in the next two to three years.
Denteric’s approach builds on 15 years of research at the oral health division of the government-backed Cooperative Research Centres (CRC) program under the helm of founder and CEO Eric Reynolds, a laureate professor at University of Melbourne’s Dental School.
CRC’s oral health program has now officially split from the national initiative to become the University of Melbourne-operated Centre for Oral Health Research.
The original version of this article appeared on our sister site, Global University Venturing.