RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C., July 15, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Persephoni BioSciences ('Persephoni'), a global venture creation platform, today announced that SelSym Biotech ('SelSym'), a preclinical-stage company developing transformative biomimetic therapies to address critically unmet needs in hemorrhage and wound care, has joined Persephoni's portfolio and will operate out of its Clinical Impact Studio in Research Triangle Park. SelSym's lead product, SymClot, is an innovative injectable biomaterials-based therapeutic inspired by the design and function of the body's native clotting cells, platelets.
Natural platelets, the cells responsible for stopping bleeding, have a short shelf life, depend on donor supply, and require blood typing before use, leaving hospitals and emergency responders vulnerable to shortages, particularly outside controlled hospital settings. SymClot is designed to integrate seamlessly into hospital transfusion protocols while extending hemostatic care to settings where natural platelets cannot reach. The science originated from Dr. Ashley Brown's Advanced Wound Healing Lab at North Carolina State University and has been validated in small (mouse, rat) and large (pig) animal models of trauma, with results published in Science Translational Medicine and Nature Materials.
This investment and strategic partnership marks SelSym's first equity financing, which will be based upon the technical and regulatory groundwork already established. SelSym will co-locate with Persephoni's operating team in Research Triangle Park, where the partnership will focus on advancing lead programs to clinical milestones.
'We're proud to welcome SelSym into the Persephoni family. They've proven what disciplined science and capital efficiency can achieve, the same discipline that is foundational to our model. Together, we'll take it further. As lead investor and strategic partner, we will open all of Persephoni’s capabilities, infrastructure, platforms, and technologies, to enable SelSym to move more efficiently to inflection and patients,' said Hilary Schultz, CEO of Persephoni.
'We've been intentional about who we partner with, and Persephoni's ethos aligned with our mission from the start: getting SymClot to the patients who need it, faster. This investment is our first equity funding, and it validates years of work getting SelSym to this point. With Persephoni's team and resources alongside our own technical expertise, we're ready to move SymClot toward the clinic,' said Seema Nandi, PhD, Co-Founder and CEO of SelSym Biotech.
SelSym was founded by Dr. Ashley Brown alongside Drs. Andrew Lyon and Thomas Barker, with Dr. Nandi serving as Co-Founder and CEO. The company has been supported by substantial non-dilutive grant sources including the National Institutes of Health and Department of Defense, and this equity investment now validates the next stage of development for SelSym.
About Persephoni
Persephoni is a woman-founded, operator-led global venture creation platform, advancing transformational early-stage biotech companies, therapeutically agnostic by design. By pairing capital with shared scientific, regulatory, operational, and technology infrastructure, it encodes how biotech companies are built, creating execution consistency and compressing the time it takes to reach key milestones.
About SelSym Biotech
SelSym Biotech is a Raleigh, North Carolina-based company developing synthetic, platelet-mimetic therapeutics for hemorrhage control and wound healing. Built on its Hemostatic Healing Hydrogel platform, SelSym's lead product, SymClot, is designed to improve patient survival and outcomes in trauma and emergency care settings. The company was founded by Seema Nandi, PhD, Andrew Lyon, PhD, Ashley Brown, PhD, and Thomas Barker, PhD.
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