Rodeo Therapeutics, a Seattle-based biotech startup that is creating therapies to help the body regenerate tissue, has landed $3.7 million in venture funding, according to an SEC filing.
The company is working on ways to speed up the body’s natural regenerative process by inhibiting an enzyme called 15-PGDH. Rodeo’s efforts are aimed at treating inflammatory bowel disease and promoting blood cell growth following bone marrow transplants.
Regenerative medicine essentially aims to repair tissue that has broken down due to disease, age or birth defects. Rodeo hopes that, down the line, it can provide regenerative therapies to fight a range of inflammatory diseases.
The company did not respond to requests for comment on how the new funding would be used, and specific investors were not named in the filing.
In July 2017, Rodeo raised $5.9 million in series A funding from venture fund Accelerator Life Science Partners, which invests in biotech startups. That brings Rodeo’s total amount raised to $9.6 million.
Rodeo draws much of its leadership from Accelerator: Thong Le is CEO of both companies; Accelerator’s Chief Operating Partner David Schubert is Rodeo’s COO. The company was started by a trio of leading cancer researchers, including Dr. Sanford Markowitz, Dr. Stanton Gerson and Dr. Joseph Ready.
