10 January 2019 - - US-based biotechnology company Frequency Therapeutics has closed a USD 42m series B financing, which brings the total capital raised by the company to USD 87m, the company said.

The financing was led by Taiwania Capital Management, a venture capital firm with USD 350m biotechnology and IT funds, and Axil Capital, a healthcare focused venture fund spun out of Mizuho Securities.

Yonjin Capital and DF Investments were also new investors in the series B financing.

Existing investors Polaris Founders Capital, Alexandria Venture Investments, CoBro Ventures, Korea Investment Partners and Emigrant Capital also participated in the series B financing.

In connection with the financing, Joel Marcus, Executive chairman and Founder of Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. and Alexandria Venture Investments, and Michael Huang, managing partner of Taiwania Capital Management, have joined Frequency's board of directors.

In addition, Fred Shane, a partner with Axil Capital and Daguang Wang Ph.D., managing director of Yonjin Capital, have joined the board as observers.

Proceeds from the financing will support the advancement of the company's clinical candidate, FX-322, for hearing regeneration.

Top-line results from an ongoing Phase 1/2 study are expected in the first half of 2019.

The financing will also support the continued expansion of Frequency's pipeline with new therapeutic applications from the company's PCA Regeneration platform.

Founded by pioneers in the field of regenerative medicine and drug delivery technology, Frequency's Progenitor Cell Activation Regeneration platform uses a combination of small molecules to stimulate progenitor cells within the body to repair diseased or damaged tissue.

This technology enables native tissue regeneration without modifying genes or removing cells from the body. This avoids the potential safety risks of genetic engineering and the manufacturing challenges of traditional cell therapy.

This approach has been validated both in animal and human cell models as well as in a human clinical trial with the potential for broad application across many therapeutic areas.

Frequency Therapeutics develops small molecule drugs to stimulate progenitor cells in the body to reverse biological deficits and restore healthy tissue.

Through the transitory activation of these cells, Frequency enables disease modification without the complexity of genetic engineering.

Our ground-breaking therapy uses a proprietary combination of small-molecule drugs that induce progenitor cells create new cells.

While Frequency's lead program targets hearing restoration, our PCA Regeneration platform has the potential to touch upon a breadth of disease indications.