MIT-founded regenerative polymer developer Tissium will put the capital into clinical-stage development and toward regulatory clearance in multiple markets.

Tissium, a France-based developer of regenerative synthetic polymers spun out of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), closed a €38.8m ($42.8m) series B round featuring government-owned investment bank Bpifrance yesterday.
BNP Paribas Développement, an investment subsidiary of financial services firm BNP Paribas, also took part in the round together with the EU-owned European Investment Fund, M&L Investments, Valquest Partners, CM-CIC Innovation, CapDecisif Management, Omnes Capital and Sofinnova Partners.
Founded in 2013 as Gecko Biomedical, Tissium has devised a synthetic polymer material that can be used to restore damaged tissues in the body.
The polymers are biomorphic, binding to their target to engender natural healing for purposes including medical repair procedures, implantable devices and drug delivery.
The technology was developed by co-founders Robert Langer, the David H. Kock Institute professor at the MIT Department of Chemical Engineering, and Jeff Karp, professor of medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
Tissium will spend the money on its clinical program and on adapting its approach for new indications including nerve repair, gastroenterology and cardiovascular treatment. The cash will also drive work toward regulatory clearance in multiple jurisdictions.
Tissum recently opened a satellite office in Boston, Massachusetts to handle US operations, and the company also plans to open a new production plant in Lille, France.
Jay Watkins, a medtech industry executive and entrepreneur, has been appointed independent chairman of the spinout’s board of directors.
Tissium received $25.5m in a series A2 round in 2016 led by Sofinnova Partners, which subsequently become the spinout’s largest shareholder. The round also included Omnes Capital, CapDecisif Management, CM-CIC Innovation and Bpifrance.
Bpifrance also supplied $1.5m of funding in 2015, two years after Omnes Capital and CM-CIC Capital Finance had  co-led a $11m series A round with participation from CapDecisif Management.