Led · Series B · Apr 2022

Ashvattha Therapeutics is advancing a new class of clinical-stage nanomedicine therapeutics intended to traverse tissue barriers and selectively target and reprogram activated cells only in regions of inflammation. Its targeted nanomedicine approach aims to improve precision medicine across ophthalmology, neurology, and inflammation by enabling selective modulation of diseased tissue. The company’s at-home monthly subcutaneously administered HDT for neovascular (wet) age-related macular degeneration and diabetic macular edema demonstrated a substantial reduction in treatment burden in interim data. Ashvattha is currently conducting an ongoing Phase 2 ophthalmology trial and a Phase 1/2 neuroinflammation trial and intends to use newly raised funds to complete those studies. Interim Phase 2 trial results will be presented by the principal investigator at the Angiogenesis 2025 meeting on February 8, 2025. The company was founded by Kannan Rangaramanujam, Sujatha Kannan, and Jeff Cleland and is based in Redwood City, California. Ashvattha develops hydroxyl dendrimer therapeutics (HDTs), a platform technology that chemically conjugates drugs to hydroxyl dendrimers to selectively target reactive inflammatory cells in diseased tissue. Its HDTs have demonstrated the ability to cross the blood-brain barrier and blood-retinal barrier, enabling programs in neurology, ophthalmology and systemic inflammatory conditions. Clinical-stage candidates include OP-101 (N‑acetyl cysteine conjugate) in a Phase 2 PRANA study for severe COVID-19, D-4517.2 for ocular neovascular disease, and OP-801 as an HD imaging agent for neuroinflammation; Ashvattha planned additional Phase 2 and Phase 1/2 starts in 2022 for wet AMD/DME and ALS. The company licenses the underlying HD platform from founders at Johns Hopkins and positions its pipeline around disease-cell selective delivery to increase therapeutic index. Proceeds from the announced financing and licensing are intended to advance multiple clinical-stage programs and preclinical candidates.

Led · Equity · Apr 2020

R2 Technologies develops CryoAesthetic™ medical devices and commercially launched its first product, Glacial Rx, earlier in the year; the device is FDA‑cleared to remove benign lesions and to temporarily reduce pain, swelling and inflammation. The company is accelerating U.S. commercialization of Glacial Rx and is taking orders from aesthetic providers who want to offer the treatment in‑office. R2 plans to expand its corporate footprint—growing its presence in Silicon Valley and establishing a satellite office in Miami—and to fuel global growth and future product rollouts. To meet demand the company is accelerating manufacturing and ramping up marketing to drive education and awareness across consumer and professional channels. R2 was founded in 2014, licensed IP from Massachusetts General Hospital, and works with scientific founders and luminaries in aesthetic medicine. The company describes itself as shifting to a revenue‑driving phase following Glacial Rx’s commercial launch. R2 Technologies develops medical devices that use proprietary "cold technology" to treat aesthetic and medical skin conditions, including a skin lightening and tone-evening offering. The company has received FDA market clearance for its second-generation R2 Dermal Cooling System, a cryosurgical instrument intended for removal of benign skin lesions. R2 licensed core IP from Blossom Innovations and researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital and other academic collaborators. Proceeds from recent financing are being used to commercialize its CryoAesthetic technology, add key staff, and launch a pre-order program planned for this summer. R2 aims to capture a significant foothold in the $22 billion global skin lightening and brightening market. The company is a portfolio business of Pansend Life Sciences (a subsidiary of HC2 Holdings), was founded in late 2014, and is located in San Ramon, California.

Led · Equity · Jul 2019

MediBeacon develops biocompatible optical diagnostic agents and a Transdermal Glomerular Filtration Rate (TGFR) Measurement System that uses a proprietary fluorescent tracer and an optical skin sensor to measure kidney function without blood or urine sampling. The TGFR received FDA Breakthrough Device designation in 2018 and is poised to begin pivotal trials in the U.S. and Europe; MediBeacon’s agents and devices are not approved for human use by any regulatory agency. The company’s agent platform has additional programs including a Transdermal Gastrointestinal Permeability System supported by Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation grants and preclinical work for ocular vasculature imaging. MediBeacon is a privately held portfolio company within HC2’s Pansend Life Sciences and recently secured a strategic investment and partnership to advance regulatory and commercial efforts in Asia. Under its deal with Huadong Medicine, MediBeacon will receive upfront capital and future milestone payments plus royalties on net sales in specified Asian countries, improving its near‑term funding profile for trials and commercialization. MediBeacon, co-founded in 2012 and based in St. Louis, has developed a system that uses an optical skin sensor combined with a proprietary agent that fluoresces to provide continuous real-time monitoring of kidney function. The core product is a bedside, noninvasive monitor that reports kidney performance in real time to clinicians. The company is pursuing additional applications of the technology in gastrointestinal disease in collaboration with Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, with funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. MediBeacon’s investor base includes Jump Capital, St. Louis BioGenerator, Missouri Technology Corporation, the Helix Fund and the St. Louis Development Corporation. The company received a financing infusion to support continued development and commercialization of its monitoring platform. Two representatives of the financing provider will join MediBeacon’s board of directors.