Secretome Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company based in Plano, Texas, has closed a USD 30 million Series A financing round to advance STM-01, its neonatal cardiac progenitor cell-derived therapy, toward pivotal trials in Duchenne muscular dystrophy-associated cardiomyopathy. RA Capital Management was the sole investor in the round.
Proceeds will support company operations and the continued development of STM-01, with the company stating its intention to advance the asset into pivotal Phase II and Phase III trials in Duchenne muscular dystrophy — an indication where disease-modifying therapeutic options remain limited. In connection with the financing, David Lubner has joined Secretome’s board of directors. Lubner brings more than 25 years of senior executive and board-level experience in life sciences, having previously served as chief financial officer of Ra Pharmaceuticals prior to its acquisition by UCB in 2020, and of Tetraphase Pharmaceuticals, PharMetrics, and ProScript.
The Series A follows a USD 20.4 million pre-Series A financing closed in November 2024, which funded the initiation of Phase I clinical trials for STM-01 in dilated cardiomyopathy and heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. Earlier seed-stage support came from the University System of Maryland Momentum Fund, TEDCO, and Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy. Total disclosed funding now stands at approximately USD 50.4 million.
Secretome was founded in 2018 — originally under the name NeoProgen — as a spinout from the University of Maryland, Baltimore. The platform technology was developed in the laboratory of Dr. Sunjay Kaushal, a paediatric cardiac surgeon-scientist who served as professor of surgery at the University of Maryland School of Medicine from 2012 to 2020, and Dr. Rachana Mishra, a cell biologist who led GMP manufacturing development within the same group. The foundational research, including a 2017 paper in Circulation Research characterising the secretome of human cardiac progenitor cells, established that the regenerative effects of neonatal cardiac progenitor cells are mediated primarily through paracrine signalling rather than direct cell engraftment.
Secretome’s platform is built on the premise that neonatal cardiac progenitor cells, harvested from tissue collected during corrective neonatal heart surgeries, secrete a complex mixture of growth factors, cytokines, and extracellular vesicles that collectively suppress inflammation, inhibit fibrosis, promote angiogenesis, and support myocardial repair. The company’s thesis is that delivering these cells as an allogeneic, off-the-shelf therapy can reintroduce this regenerative biology into the diseased adult heart.