UZH spinoff raises CHF 7.2 million in a series A round

CUTISS AG is a biotech company spin-off of the University of Zurich (UZH) focused on the development of personalized bioengineered skin graft products for the treatment of a broad spectrum of skin defects. Cutiss’ lead product is the denovoSkin, which successfully completed Phase I in pediatric patients and is recruiting in multi-centric Phase II studies financed by Wyss Zurich. DenovoSkin has received Orphan Drug Designation for the treatment of burns by Swissmedic, EMA and FDA.

The startup has now raised CHF 7.255.000 in the series A financing round, succeeding a CHF 1 million convertible loan previously provided to the company by the UZH Life Sciences Fund, and now converted. The round was led by Giammaria Giuliani with participation of Yellowstone Holding AG, Zürcher Kantonalbank and several private investors. The funds will be used to scale up the production of denovoSkin and to develop the next generation skin grafts.

“Our Series A investors bring not only capital resources, but also a great vision and experience in the Life Science industry and innovation. We are very glad to welcome them on board,” said Daniela Marino, CEO and co-founder of Cutiss.

Giammaria Giuliani said: "We are thrilled to invest in a strong team that, we believe, will develop Cutiss’ technology into being a game changer in the cell therapy field for reconstructive and plastic surgery".

In conjunction with the financing, Giammaria Giuliani is joining the Cutiss’ board of directors, chaired by Martin Meuli, Director of the Surgery Department of the University Children’s Hospital Zurich. Other members on board include Ernst Reichmann, Head of the Tissue Biology Research Unit at the University Children’s Hospital in Zurich, Anja König, Global Head of Novartis Venture Fund and Daniela Marino.

(Press release/ran)