Revalesio_RGBTacoma may not be the first place you think of when biotechnology comes to mind, but one company from the city is raising some serious dough to help people affected by diseases like asthma, multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer’s.

Revalesio, a 14-year-old biotech company based in Tacoma, Wash., has raised $13.5 million of a $40 million round. The company, which does not disclose investors, previously raised $20 million in capital funding back in 2012.

Revalesio uses a unique charge-stabilized nanostructure (CSN) technology that can help treat inflammatory diseases. The company’s main product, RNS60, is essentially oxygen-rich saline that uses the CSN technology to reduce inflammation and cell damage. Here’s how Revalesio describes it:

RNS60 utilizes CSNs to disrupt inflammatory signals at the cell membrane and prevent a cascade of biochemical events that cause cell and tissue damage. In contrast to traditional therapies such as biologics and some small molecules, CSNs are not designed to target a single cellular protein. Instead, they have a stabilizing effect on the cell membrane, which modulates the PI3K-Akt pathway, a central pathway responsible for multiple cellular functions including cellular protection from death (apoptosis) and the reduction of inflammation.

Revelasio CEO Eric Russell.
Revelasio CEO Eric Russell.

The CSN technology was originally invented by Tony Wood, who sold his company to Revalesio in 2004 and is now conducting a “one-man experiment” for his invention.

Revalesio, led by CEO Eric Russell, employs 30 and partners with other companies, universities and research institutions. It faces competition from a number of others who are also developing similar therapeutic products.

“At the end of the day, the measure of success against the competition is if our product provides a new and effective treatment option for patients,” Business Development Officer Jesse Thomas told GeekWire. “Our approach to treating these diseases with CSN is novel and unique to the biopharmaceutical community.”

Thomas called Tacoma a “unique” location for a life science company.

“The South Sound is an excellent place to do business with an excellent talent pool and great collaborators in the University of Washington, Joint Base Lewis McCord and local health care providers,” he said.

Just 45 minutes up Interstate-5 in Seattle, a number of life science firms have also made headlines recently, including a $176 million series A investment in cancer research startup Juno Therapeutics and a $47.25 million round for Integrated Diagnostics, a Seattle company developing blood-based proteomic tests.

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