Pioneer Group announces lead investment in surgical innovator Selentus Science

NOTTINGHAM, 07 February, 2023 – Pioneer Group (formerly the BioCity Group), the leading life sciences venture incubator in the UK, today announces its lead investment in Selentus Science, a surgical innovator, to support the development of new surgical haemostat, TenaTac®. No financial details have been disclosed.

Selentus has developed TenaTac®, an innovative medical device that controls bleeding during a surgical procedure while also reducing the risk of post-operative haemorrhage.

Intra-operative bleeding can extend overall operative and anaesthetic time, potentially increasing both the risks of patient morbidity and mortality, and total healthcare costs.  TenaTac® is based on a disruptive new technology that replaces expensive blood products used in current haemostats, eliminating the risk of contamination for patients.  It is protected by granted patents in the UK, US, Japan, China and Brazil and is allowed for grant in Europe. It has been approved as a Class III medical device in Europe. TenaTac® is in the process of being commercialised with a European partner.

Selentus is based at Pioneer’s BioCity Nottingham site and the Pioneer investment team have known CEO Ben Nichols for many years, having previously invested in and successfully exited Haemostatix, the company he formerly led. The investment in Selentus is a perfect example of how Pioneer’s early and ongoing involvement with entrepreneurial ventures provides unparalleled insight into the people, the technology and their chances of success.

Pioneer operates 10 high tech campuses in the UK and Ireland alongside nationwide accelerator programmes and partnerships with organisations such as Innovate UK, which together ensure unrivalled access to investment opportunities such as Selentus.

Ben Nichols, CEO of Selentus, said: “This investment really validates the innovation at Selentus and will assist in the funding of a post-approval clinical study of our lead device, TenaTac®, and the development of an exciting pipeline of new products for surgical bleeding and wound therapy. We have benefited enormously from working in the BioCity, Nottingham life sciences ecosystem and from Pioneer Group’s specialist and dedicated support network. We intend to continue our ambitious growth plans with Pioneer’s support.”

Dr. Imelda Juniarsih, Investment Manager at Pioneer Group, said: “Our mission is to help life sciences businesses, such as Selentus, thrive at every stage of their innovation journey. We are proud to come in as lead investor in Selentus and strongly believe in the innovation behind TenaTac®, a medical device with an exceptional IP that solves a key gap in the haemostatic market. We are excited to be supporting Selentus’ growth through our investment as well as our all-round incubator programme.”

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About Pioneer Group

Pioneer Group’s mission is to help life sciences and high-tech businesses to thrive in tackling challenges in both human and planetary health. Across the UK and Ireland, Pioneer leads the way in integrating the provision of mission critical real estate, venture building and venture investment.

Since 2003 its connected cluster model has provided powerful sector-specific, business-focused ecosystems in which businesses are more likely to succeed.

Pioneer Group delivers the most comprehensive suite of accelerator and venture building activity across the UK and Ireland, helping founders to transfer cutting-edge discovery into visionary ventures that scale. Pioneer’s in-house team supports start-ups and scale-ups and works in partnership with organisations such as Innovate UK, AbbVie, Astellas, Academic Health Science Networks and many of the UK’s strongest universities.

Pioneer also backs game-changing, early-stage life science companies with investment from its venture capital funds, alongside ongoing mentoring and assistance. The focus is on funding the most promising companies graduating from Pioneer’s venture building programmes and/or based at its campuses. Since 2015, Pioneer has supported over 80 early-stage ventures which have raised in excess of £200m.

For more information about Pioneer Group, visit www.thepioneergroup.com.

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About Selentus

Selentus Science develops innovative medical devices for the control of bleeding and wound care. Our lead product, TenaTac®, is a bioresorbable haemostatic sponge with a patented surface modification that adheres the product to a wound site, preventing dislodgement and greatly reducing the risk of post-operative bleeding.

The innovation replaces blood derived proteins currently used to achieve wound adhesion, and as a consequence TenaTac has an improved safety profile and manufacturing costs are significantly lower. In addition, studies have demonstrated that TenaTac has superior performance to the market leader, a product that utilizes blood derived ingredients.

TenaTac is approved for sale in Europe as a Class III medical device. Selentus aims to commercialize TenaTac in the £2.1 billion haemostat market and to develop a pipeline of four new products. Selentus was founded by Dr Ben Nichols (previously CEO at Haemostatix), Ben Walker and vascular surgeon Paul Hayes MD FRCS.

For further information on Selentus, please visit www.selentus.com.