Okyanos Heart Institute, whose mission it is to bring a new standard of care and a better quality of life to patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) using adult stem cell therapy has raised $8.9 million in its Series B offering.
Passion Group founder Ali Shawkat led the round and is a visionary entrepreneur-investor with success in a diverse set of industries including cellular services, telecom, media and healthcare.
“Okyanos has the vision, medical leadership, adult stem cell technology and business model to better the lives of millions of patients, their families and society,” said Mr. Shawkat. “Cell therapy promises to be a new pillar of medicine as it is based on the natural biology of the body.”
According to Okyanos Co-founder and CEO Matthew Feshbach, this funding brings the institute’s total funding to $14.2 million.
“Financial strength is integral to our commitment to treat patients with cardiac cell therapy at the highest standards of safety and care,” he said.
Okyanos cardiac stem cell therapy procedure uses cells known as adipose-derived stem and regenerative cells (ADRCs), processed by Cytori Therapeutics’ Celution system, a technology which has been approved and is commercially available in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and other international jurisdictions for various indications of use.
The company has procured a state-of-the-art Philips cath lab and is building out a centre of excellence capable of treating over 1,000 patients per year in Freeport.
The Bahamas passed stem cell legislation in August 2013.
“We have a sophisticated, entrepreneurial group of investors who are like-minded in our purpose to safely improve the quality of life of patients suffering from illnesses such as CAD, using adult stem cells derived from adipose (fat) tissue,” Mr. Feshbach said.
“We appreciate the significant leadership and support of Mr. Shawkat who shares the Okyanos commitment.”
The company will begin treating patients with coronary artery disease using their own stem cells this summer.
