RegCell, a biotechnology company built on Nobel Prize-winning research into immune tolerance, said this week it has raised $66 million in new funding to advance its lead cell-reprogramming platform toward clinical trials.
The financing combines a fully subscribed $44 million Series A round led by Playground Global with roughly $22 million in non-dilutive grant funding from Japan's Agency for Medical Research and Development, or AMED, the company said in a press release. Other participants in the round included Global Brain, Mitsui Chemicals, LG Technology Ventures, Alumni Ventures, Medical Incubator Japan, Fast Track Initiative, the University of Tokyo Edge Capital Partners, Osaka University Venture Capital and Kyoto iCAP.
Reprogramming Immune Cells Rather Than Suppressing Them
RegCell's platform uses epigenetic reprogramming to convert disease-causing T cells into regulatory T cells, or Tregs, which help the immune system distinguish the body's own tissue from genuine threats. The approach is built on the discovery of Tregs' role in immune tolerance by RegCell co-founder Shimon Sakaguchi, a professor whose work earned him the Nobel Prize. Unlike conventional immunosuppressants, which broadly dampen immune activity, the company says its approach targets only the pathogenic cells driving a given disease, aiming to preserve the rest of the immune system's normal defenses.
The company is initially targeting autoimmune liver disease, with additional programs aimed at myasthenia gravis, rheumatoid arthritis and ulcerative colitis. The new capital is intended to fund submission of an investigational new drug application and to advance the platform into a Phase 2 trial in a second autoimmune indication, according to the company's funding announcement.
Chief Executive Michael V. McCullar said the funding would let RegCell move more quickly from research into the clinic.
With this financing and AMED's continued support, we intend to rapidly advance our epigenetic reprogramming platform toward the clinic.
Michael V. McCullar, President and Chief Executive Officer, RegCell
The AMED award is the second the company has received; an initial grant of $37.3 million in 2024 supported early development of the platform through proof-of-concept work in autoimmune liver disease. RegCell, which traces its roots to research in Japan, recently completed a transition to a U.S. headquarters as it moves the program toward first-in-human testing.
