Earlier this week, San Diego startup Gallant announced $18 million in funding to bring ready-to-use stem cell therapy to veterinary medicine, originally approved by the FDA. If you pass the restriction call, you may create an entirely new way to treat a baby fur.
Despite people have been studying human stem cells for decades, it is still an experimental field. The 7-year-old Gallant’s first target is a cat’s painful mouth condition called feline chronic gingival infection (FCG), which Gallant says could get FDA approval by early 2026.
This field shows early results of some encouragement. Studies on dogs with arthritis showed improvements in pain and mobility, with some benefits lasting up to two years. But when researchers attempted a similar treatment for cat kidney disease – it’s another condition that Gallant wants to tackle – the results were more mixed.
What makes Gallant’s approach different is convenience. While most stem cell therapy today requires the collection of cells from donors in patients or matching tissues, Gallant treatment uses ready-to-use cells from donor animals, even from different species.
Investors are clearly seeing possibilities here. The funding round was led by existing supporter Digitalis Ventures with participation from NovaQuest Capital Management, which previously invested in the first FDA-approved human stem cell therapy.
The company has an interesting backstory. Gallant founder Aaron Hirschhorn previously sold Dogvacay to his biggest rival in the dog sitting market Rover. Hirschhorn passed away in 2021. Gallant is now led by Linda Black, who joined from the start as president and chief scientific officer. Gallant is currently fully raising at least $44 million from investors.
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