UZH Life Sciences Fund selects Cutiss

Cutiss, a Switzerland-based skin graft technology producer spun out from University of Zurich (UZH), has secured SFr1m ($1m) in funding from the university venture fund UZH Life Sciences Fund.

Cutiss is working on bioengineered skin grafts to help patients suffering from skin defects such as severe burns. The technology is based on research at the Tissue Biology Research Unit of the Department of Surgery of the University Children’s Hospital in Zurich.

The spinout uses a postage-stamp-sized biopsy of healthy skin to generate a skin graft approximately 70 times larger within a month. The resulting skin graft will grow with the patient once it is transplanted.

The money will help accelerate commercialisation efforts of the spinout.

UZH Life Sciences Fund being raised by UZH Foundation, through donations, with Novartis Venture Fund, the corporate venturing arm of pharmaceutical firm Novartis, providing match funding. The vehicle was launched recently, though a precise date could not be ascertained.

The fund aims to raise a total of SFr20m in life sciences spinouts from University of Zurich. To date, it has collected SFr3m and is seeking to secure commitments for the final SFr7m.

Cutiss is the first investment for the UZH Life Sciences Fund, which will reinvest any future proceeds.

Daniela Marino, chief executive of Cutiss, said: “This funding will enable us to tackle the challenge of automating the process for cultivating skin, allowing us to produce skin grafts more quickly and cost-efficiently.”

Michael Hengartner, president of UZH and a member of the UZH Life Sciences Fund board, said: “It takes a long time to develop marketable applications, especially in the life sciences, and clinical trials are expensive.

“The UZH Life Sciences Fund accelerates the transfer of research findings from UZH into clinical practice, which ultimately benefits patients and the public at large.”