Tempo Therapeutics has closed an oversubscribed $14.5 million financing round to advance its Microporous Annealed Particle regenerative technology through potential regulatory clearance and commercialization.
Galaxy Sirius Partners led the financing, with participation from Johnson & Johnson through Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC, Gideon Strategic Partners, Mesa Verde Venture Partners, YK Bioventures and other new and existing investors.
Tempo is developing synthetic biomaterials designed to help the body regenerate healthy, functional tissue.
The company’s MAP technology is a flowable and porous biomaterial designed to conform to irregular tissue spaces and support cellular infiltration, vascularization and new tissue formation before gradually being replaced by the patient’s own tissue.
The financing follows the publication of positive first-in-human clinical data and submission of a De Novo application to the FDA for Tempo’s lead product.
Proceeds will support the surgical reconstruction program through potential regulatory clearance and commercialization while also funding clinical work around additional uses of MAP, including regenerative aesthetics.
Tempo’s recently published randomized, controlled, multicenter study included 40 patients with full-thickness wounds following Mohs surgery for non-melanoma skin cancer.
The study met its primary safety endpoint, with no serious adverse device effects, infections or delayed wound healing reported in patients treated with MAP.
MAP-treated wounds reached a favorable Wound Bed Score approximately 14 days earlier than control wounds without delaying overall wound closure.
At approximately six months, MAP-treated patients also showed significantly better physician-assessed scar quality than patients receiving standard hydrocolloid treatment, including improvements in scar surface level, firmness and tension.
Tempo is initially advancing the technology in surgical reconstruction, where MAP provides a temporary scaffold intended to support the body’s natural regenerative processes.
The company also sees potential in regenerative aesthetics, including applications addressing tissue changes associated with weight loss and healthy aging. A portion of the new financing will support clinical work in those areas.
Tempo also announced leadership changes alongside the financing.
Eric Richman has been appointed Interim CEO, while Steven Sands, Co-Principal of Galaxy Sirius Partners, has become Chairman of the Board. Richman has served on Tempo’s board for two years and brings experience across biotechnology, healthcare, financing, commercialization and strategic transactions.
Co-founder and former CEO Westbrook Weaver, Ph.D., will serve as Chief Technology Officer. Don Griffin, Ph.D., will serve as Chief Scientific Officer and a board member, while Stephanie Deshayes, Ph.D., will serve as Vice President of Research & Development.
The financing gives Tempo additional capital as it moves its first MAP-based product toward a potential commercial launch while evaluating a broader pipeline of regenerative medicine applications.
KEY QUOTES:
“Tempo’s MAP technology has the potential to improve surgical outcomes by supporting the regeneration of natural tissue, with broader potential across surgical reconstruction and injectable bioresorbable implants.”
Martin Sands, Co-Principal of Galaxy Sirius Partners
“MAP was developed around the idea that we could fundamentally improve the way the body responds to injury and augment the body’s process for building tissue by using biomaterials that do not stimulate a foreign body response.”
Westbrook Weaver, Ph.D., Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Tempo Therapeutics
“Tempo has developed a highly differentiated technology with the potential to change how tissue is restored and regenerated.”
Eric Richman, Interim CEO of Tempo Therapeutics
