UCC spinout ProVascTec is developing a revolutionary approach to preventing limb amputations.
ProVascTec is part of a consortium that has been awarded €2.1m in research funding from Eurostars, part of the EU’s Horizon Europe programme.
The consortium includes Swiss-based Empa and Swedish-based Cellcolabs. Under the terms of the award Empa will develop a nanospun membrane that is fixed to a stent backbone, while Cellcolabs will provide ProVascTec with Mesenchymal stem cells and develop two manufacturing processes with bone marrow and adipose tissue as starting material.
“With the support of our investors, we can combine two established principles, cell therapy and intra-arterial delivery, in a novel configuration offering true innovation to the lives of millions of patients throughout the world”
The award is to be spent exclusively on the consortium’s research over the next 24 months.
The Horizon Europe programme is the largest international funding programme for SMEs that collaborate on R&D projects to create innovative products, processes or services for commercialisation.
Life-saving innovation
ProVascTec is a device-driven cell therapy company, developing a revolutionary approach for treating patients suffering from critical limb ischemia. Thousands of sufferers face limb amputations every year.
The UCC spinout, which is currently valued at €5.3m, has developed a treatment for blocked arteries in lower limbs, a condition that leads to up to 800 leg amputations annually in Ireland alone.
“With the support of our investors, we can combine two established principles, cell therapy and intra-arterial delivery, in a novel configuration offering true innovation to the lives of millions of patients throughout the world from our base in Cork at UCC’s Gateway Innovation & Incubation Hub,” explained Dr Holger Müller, CEO of ProVascTec recently.
This latest EU funding is non-dilutive for shareholders as this will save the company this amount of money being spent on research.
Separately, ProVascTec is raising €900,000 on the Central Bank of Ireland approved Spark Crowdfunding platform. Two thirds of this amount have already been raised.
“This is another endorsement of the quality of the 50-plus companies we have attracted to our investment platform,” said Spark Crowdfunding CEO Chris Burge.
“We are seeing more and more high-quality companies, leaders in areas like medtech and fintech, using our platform to raise funds from our 13,000 investors. We have just signed agreements with two more companies to raise funds for them. We’ll announce further details in the coming weeks.”
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