Chennai: Leading stem cell bank and reproductive genetic testing services provider, LifeCell International Private Limited has raised ₹225cr fund from healthcare investment firm OrbiMed Asia Partners IV in return for a significant minority stake in the company.
The existing founders of LifeCell also contributed by investing ₹30cr to the total fundraised to invest in growth of the company in genomic space and expand their research and development in transplant biologics.
With this investment from OrbiMed, Sunny Sharma, Senior MD, OrbiMed Asia, joins LifeCell’s board of decision makers.
Commenting on the future ahead for the company after this fundraise, Mayur Abhaya, Managing Director, LifeCell International, noted, “LifeCell has over the last few years undertaken several growth initiatives in genetic and genomic testing for maternal and newborn health, and innovative placental tissue-based products for wound healing. With demonstrated market leadership across segments, LifeCell seeks to further leverage its technological expertise, strong brand position, and wide network, to foray into adjacent new categories like Fertility Heath and Cell-based therapeutics. These funds will help accelerate this agenda and further strengthen our market position”.
LifeCell closed the last fiscal year at Rs 234 crore in revenue and very recently received DGCI nod to conduct a 30-day trial of ‘Mesocels’ derived from umbilical cord to treat covid-19.