Renovar captures $1.2M for product development

Madison, Wis. - An early-stage company developing diagnostics to test for kidney disease is preparing to use $1.22 million in private investments to secure federal clearance for its first clinical product.

Renovar, Inc., which has raised a total of $3.2 million since its inception in 1999, will use the proceeds from its second financing round for additional product research and development activities.
The round was led by Appleton-based NEW Capital Fund, and also included Wisconsin Investment Partners.

Renovar's main product candidate, a urine-based assay, or test, for kidney transplant patients, is designed to better predict the possibility of rejection. It is based on the patented discoveries of co-founder and University of Wisconsin-Madison transplant surgeon Stuart Knechtle and others.

The company plans to apply for U.S. Food and Drug Administration clearance in 2007.

"The assay can be run in two hours, so it's a quick and easy test," said Peggy Hedberg, Renovar's president and CEO. She added that it is a less invasive and far less expensive procedure than a kidney biopsy. New directors

Individual investors, including Hedberg and Rhona Vogel, owner of Brookfield-based Vogel Consulting, also contributed to the financing round. Vogel and Charles Goff, general partner of NEW Capital Fund, will join Renovar's board of directors.

"We are very impressed with the strength of Renovar's management team, their intellectual property position, and the fact that their proof of concept is firmly established," Goff said in a release. "We expect Renovar to be one of Wisconsin's biotechnology stars in the near future."

The company's patent pending biomarker detection technology, which currently is being used in research settings, involves a proprietary buffer that enables scientists to detect protiens that appear in urine and could indicate inflammation or injury.

"That gives us a window into the disease state of the kidney," Hedberg said.

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