Semma Therapeutics secures $44 million funding to develop diabetes cell therapy

USA-based biotech start-up Semma Therapeutics, which is developing a cell therapy for type 1 diabetes, says it has closed a $44 million Series A consisting of equity financing and strategic funding.

The Series A financing is led by MPM Capital, with Fidelity Biosciences, ARCH Venture Partners, and Medtronic participating. Alongside the equity financing, Semma entered into an agreement with the US subsidiary of Swiss pharma giant Novartis (NOVN: VX). No details of the Novartis deal were disclosed.

In a paper published in the journal Cell last October, Doug Melton, the scientific founder of Semma Therapeutics, and his lab reported for the first time a procedure that has the potential to generate a nearly unlimited supply of pancreatic beta cells that secrete the hormone insulin in a regulated manner. These cells are responsible for keeping blood sugar levels in balance and are destroyed in type 1 diabetic patients. The discovery has been hailed as one of the most important advances to date in the stem cell field.