Roch. linked rengerative health firm raises almost $4 million

Here's some from a piece I have in today's paper about Cardio3, the Belgium biotech firm that is working Mayo Clinic and opening an office in Rochester.

Almost $4 million in fresh funding is giving a boost to a Belgium regenerative medicine firm as it gears up its new Rochester office.

Cardio3 BioSciences, in which Mayo Clinic owns equity through an intellectual property license, announced Tuesday that it secured almost $4 million, or 3.1 million euros, in its latest round of funding.

This follows Cardio3's statement in September that it plans to base its U.S. headquarters in Rochester.

The company's promising work with Mayo Clinic on regenerating damaged heart tissue with a patient's own stem cells has attracted a lot of attention and about $34 million in funding since it began in 2007.

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Clinical studies will be the primary focus of the Rochester office, once it opens in the near future, says Gary Smith, the leader of Rochester Area Economic Development, Inc.

He says RAEDI has subleased space for Cardio3's use from Kardia Health Systems on the third floor of the Minnesota Biobusiness Center at  221 First Ave. S.W. Smith estimated the cost at about $30,000 for three years.