Shire Hunts More Deals Amid Reawakening Interest in Stem Cell R&D
Summary
“We went through a period where the embryonic stem cell stuff just put a pall on the industry, and stalled new investment,” says Tozer, who is the vice president of corporate development at Shire Regenerative Medicine, a new business that the Irish pharma giant has focused in San Diego.As we reported in June, Shire also is moving ahead with plans to develop a new corporate campus in San Diego for its regenerative medicine division—which the Irish specialty pharmaceutical expects to become a $1 billion business.Raising capital remains one of the biggest challenges in regenerative medicine, he added, and the forum provides a venue that brings investors and pharmaceutical partners together.Tozer was a senior executive at Advanced BioHealing, which makes Dermagraft bio-engineered skin patches in San Diego, and is now on the lookout for additional acquisitions that fit with the company’s new strategy in regenerative medicine.Another product in development, Vascugel, is focused on improving blood vessel repair for patients requiring arteriovenous (AV) access, often related to dialysis.